Unjammable navigation tech gets first airborne test

A UK aircraft has tested ground-breaking quantum technology that could pave the way for an unjammable back-up for GPS navigation systems. The government, which helped fund the research, said it was the first test of its kind to be publicly acknowledged. While GPS is satellite-based, the new system is quantum-based - a term used to describe tech that is reliant on the properties of matter at very small scales. Science minister Andrew Griffith said the test flights were "further proof of the UK as one of the world leaders on quantum". GPS is a critically important system, used on planes ships and road vehicles and by the militarily, as well as helping your smartphone determine your location. But signals from GPS satellites can be jammed, or "spoofed" to give misleading location data. In March, an RAF plane carrying UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had its GPS signal jammed while flying close to Russian territory. Finland's flag carrier Finnair even had to suspend daily flights to Estonia's second largest city, Tartu, for a month, after two of its aircraft suffered GPS interference. Experts have accused Russia of causing disruption to satellite navigation systems affecting thousands of civilian flights. Many military technologies, including drones and missiles, use GPS. But GPS jamming can also be carried out on a small scale, for example by people driving vehicles their employers have fitted with GPS trackers.