The UK Government has announced funding of £155 million to boost national security by expanding and hardening the nation’s positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities.
The funding, announced yesterday by Science Minister Lord Vallance, will support a program to boost the resilience of the UK’s PNT, including initial work on satellite-independent PNT.
It will also support work on PNT resilience at the National Physical Laboratory, and on a future system that could proactively monitor for threats against the UK’s PNT ecosystem.
Two years ago, the UK launched a ten-point plan for increasing the nation’s PNT resilience.
The plan included establishing a National PNT Office and a National Timing Centre (NTC), having back-up plans in the event of disruption to the GNSS, and other initiatives such as terrestrial timing networks and precision clock research to boost resilience and reduce risk.
The newly announced £155 million funding be allocated as follows:
- £71 million to begin work on a UK National Enhanced Long-Range Navigation (eLoran) program, providing PNT across land, air and sea that is independent of signals from satellites, and hard to jam or spoof.
- £68 million for further development of the NTC program. The NTC is being delivered by the National Physical Laboratory, to develop the UK’s first nationally distributed time infrastructure. As well as boosting resilience, it could help with innovative new uses of technologies like 5G, satellite communications and self-driving vehicles.
- £13 million for work on a UK GNSS interference monitoring programme, to deliver a world-leading capability to monitor and react to threats to PNT signals, such as jamming and spoofing.
- £3 million for the Space Based Time Transfer R&D program, which will develop the technology required to deliver global timing systems independent of the GNSS.
This news comes after the UK government agreed to work closely with both the US and France on PNT resilience, as part of September’s UK-US Technology Prosperity Deal, and July’s UK-France Summit.
The UK’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology published a Call for Evidence on PNT growth in June, seeking views on the PNT market and R&D landscape in the UK, as well as the barriers to market entry, commercialisation, and user adoption. A summary of findings is due to be published later this year.
“Today’s £155 million commitment is a very welcome step toward strengthening the UK’s protection against PNT disruptions, and the Royal Institute of Navigation is pleased to see our government continuing to grow our Nation’s capabilities in this area,” said Ramsey Faragher, Director and CEO of the Royal Institute of Navigation.
“We will continue to provide independent expertise and guidance, working closely with government and industry to ensure the UK remains prepared, protected, and at the forefront of global PNT innovation.”
“We welcome the UK government’s decision to fund and establish a national eLoran programme as a cornerstone of resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) infrastructure,” added Chris Squier, Defence Director with technology company Roke.
“This landmark initiative safeguards critical services against satellite disruptions and underscores the UK’s global leadership in PNT capability.
“Through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) strategic investment in Roke’s world-leading, ultra-compact eLoran antenna and receiver technologies, British industry is driving innovation at the forefront of resilience.”
