NAVFEST: A Reflection of Reality

NAVFEST, an event hosted by the U.S. Air Force's 746th Test Squadron (746th TS) at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico, provides attendees with a unique opportunity to test their equipment in real-world spoofing and jamming scenarios and use the data collected to improve current and future solutions. The event is critical for evaluating how navigation solutions can withstand spoofing and jamming, and as such has attracted the participation of industry leaders, Ministry of Defence entities and foreign companies, including Hexagon | NovAtel, Septentrio and others.

Hexagon | NovAtel's team utilised real-time sky environment test equipment provided by NAVFEST to assess how navigation solutions perform in the face of real threats. Neil Gerein, Vice President of Aerospace & Defence Products at Hexagon's Autonomous Positioning Division, stressed the importance of testing in real-world scenarios, especially for evaluating the anti-jamming capabilities of navigation solutions.

Participants at NAVFEST 24 included leading companies from several industries, who had the opportunity to test their own equipment in GPS Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) scenarios and observe the performance of other technologies. Eight nights of NAVWAR testing were conducted over the course of the two-week event.746 The TS not only creates test scenarios and disturbances, but also provides an accurate Temporal and Spatial Positioning Information (TPSI) reference, thanks in part to Australia's Locata system, which provides critical positioning information in GPS-challenged environments.

NAVFEST provided participants with an opportunity not available anywhere else to work closely with each company to create scenarios for their unique testing needs. Participants gained a better understanding of evolving threats and how to mitigate them. With the data collected at NAVFEST, companies were able to improve their systems and increase their ability to qualify, characterise and reject interference in GPS data.

As threats to GNSS continue to grow and attacks become more sophisticated, the need for robust navigation solutions that can withstand jamming and spoofing continues to grow.NAVFEST provides the opportunity to test equipment in contested environments, thereby helping to improve products and solutions.

NAVFEST's test scenarios have become more challenging over time, reflecting the ever-changing environments faced by warfighters. Testing includes not only jamming L1, but also jammers with increased frequencies and higher power. This requires the use of better inertial devices to cope with the increasing effects of jamming.

While simulation testing in the lab certainly has its place, NAVFEST takes simulation testing to another level. Participants had the opportunity to see how their solutions would respond to a variety of jamming attacks in a controlled environment and left with a better understanding of what a warfighter might experience when GNSS fails on the battlefield.

During NAVFEST, participants not only test the performance of an anti-jamming system or receiver, they test everything. This includes testing life cycle improvements to existing products as well as prototypes. Participants acquire as much data as possible and use it to improve the product year after year.

Septentrio is also participating in NAVFEST, and its Septentrio Mosaic GNSS module, known for its superior performance in challenging environments, is a multi-band, multi-constellation GPS/GNSS receiver designed for mass-market applications such as robotics and autonomous systems, supporting all current and future GNSS satellite signals. Its unique in-built AIM+ technology mitigates interference and prevents spoofing, ensuring optimum availability, reliability and accuracy.

Locata is also part of the annual NAVFEST with its specialised out-of-band pseudolithic system, which is the non-GPS positioning and timing component of the 746 TS ultra-high accuracy reference system. The company synchronises transmitters to billionths of a second without atomic clocks, with well-synchronised signals emitted by LocataLite transceivers on the ground, creating a positioning network that operates in conjunction with or completely independent of GPS.

NAVFEST offers these companies an opportunity not available anywhere else, working closely with each company to create scenarios for their unique testing needs. Participants gained a better understanding of the evolving threat and how to mitigate it.

This is critical as spoofing and jamming become more prevalent on both the military and civilian fronts. The level of granularity and real-world exposure provided by real-time airborne testing that can be conducted at events like NAVFEST cannot be replicated and is a critical part of any product development.

Companies such as Hexagon, VectorNav, and Septentrio will continue to specialise in this type of testing for the foreseeable future, with immunity now an essential part of product roadmaps and development.