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A new anti-jamming test facility is to be opened by the UK Ministry of Defence in collaboration with QinetiQ

The British Ministry of Defence plans to build a state-of-the-art radio frequency immunity test facility, also known as a ‘silent hangar’, at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. The facility is being built to provide a key capability to develop UK assets capable of performing in the harshest electromagnetic environments. QinetiQ will be responsible for building the facility, which is expected to be operational by 2026, under a new £20 million contract.

The ‘silent hangar’ will be able to house some of the largest military assets, including Protector drones, Chinook helicopters and F-35 fighters, with a capacity far greater than that of the The capacity is far greater than the UK's existing facilities. This facility will create the necessary environment to test the integrity of UK military equipment and will prevent testing impacting other users such as emergency services and air traffic control.

Septentrio is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of GNSS receivers in this field, and its products are particularly well suited to demanding applications where decimetre or centimetre-level accuracy is required even under difficult conditions.Septentrio's Mosaic GNSS module is a multi-band, multi-constellation GPS/GNSS receiver that delivers best-in-class positioning performance that is especially in challenging environments.

The Mosaic GNSS module incorporates Septentrio's unique AIM+ technology, an advanced on-board interference mitigation technique that suppresses interference ranging from simple continuous narrowband signals to complex broadband and impulse jammers.

In addition, the Mosaic-X5 is Septentrio's most compact, high-precision GPS/GNSS module, supporting all current and future GNSS satellite signals and featuring built-in AIM+ technology for interference monitoring and mitigation as well as anti-spoofing, ensuring optimal availability, reliability and accuracy.

Maria Eagle, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement and Industry, highlighted the increasing prevalence of hostile threats jamming the Global Positioning System (GPS) to confuse military equipment, and this cutting-edge test facility will help the UK to eliminate vulnerabilities on the platform, protect national security, and keep the Armed Forces better protected in global deployments.

Will Blamey, Chief Executive of UK Defence at QinetiQ, mentioned that the disruptive effects of electronic warfare are an enduring threat on the digital battlefield and this new facility will be vital in strengthening the resilience of military equipment, thereby enhancing the safety and security of the Armed Forces and the UK.

In addition, Richard Bloomfield, Head of Space for Electronic Warfare (CBRN) at Defence Equipment and Support, noted that this facility will not only be one of the largest such laboratories in Europe, but also one of the most advanced and technologically advanced in the world, capable of safely reproducing hostile environments and testing military equipment such as fighter jets and drones to understand their performance in challenging environments where they may face multiple external threats.

With the issue of GPS jamming being widely reported in the media, this new facility is particularly important to help the UK secure its armed forces while protecting the country and its allies. The number of global flights experiencing GPS spoofing is soaring, making the construction of this new facility by the UK Ministry of Defence all the more urgent and necessary. The Mosaic GNSS module and associated technology supplied by Septentrio will play an important role in this area, providing the UK Ministry of Defence with the anti-jamming test and validation capability it needs.

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