Saab UK, quantum timing startup Aquark Technologies, and the Royal Navy’s Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office (DCTO) have successfully completed a defense field trial integrating cold-atom quantum clocks with operational military radar networks. Conducted in June 2026 across multiple sites in the UK—with participation from QinetiQ, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), and the Royal Navy experimentation vessel XV Patrick Blackett—the trial demonstrated that networked military radars can maintain a single, coherent operational air picture completely independent of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS/GPS) timing signals.
Modern cooperative radar networks rely on sub-nanosecond synchronization to correlate target tracks across geographically separated sensors. In contested environments where satellite-delivered timing is vulnerable to electronic jamming or spoofing, timing offsets degrade target resolution and picture fusion. To overcome this vulnerability, the project integrated two AQlock 2.0 prototype cold-atom clocks—developed by Aquark using its magnetic-field-free “Super-Molasses Trap“ technology—directly into Saab’s Giraffe 1X 3D radar systems.
[ GNSS-Denied Quantum Radar Network Architecture ]
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Distributed Sensor Nodes (Saab Giraffe 1X) Network Synchronization & Relays
• Operating from Geographically Separate Sites. • Aquark AQlock 2.0 Cold-Atom Clocks (<30m Cold Start).
• Tracked Live Aerial Targets Without GPS Sync. • XV Patrick Blackett & DSTL Rebroadcast Nodes.
• Controlled Timing Distortions Simulated Spoofing. • Coherent Operational Air Picture Maintained.The field test evaluated radar performance under simulated GNSS-denied and electronic spoofing conditions:
- Cold-Start Deployment: Both AQlock 2.0 units initialized from cold power-off states to acceptable precision timing signals in under 30 minutes.
- Coherent Track Fusion: Multiple Giraffe 1X radars combined live target tracking data into a single operational picture relying exclusively on AQlock timing reference signals. Cision
- Resilience Under Spoofing: Introducing artificial timing distortions demonstrated predictable performance degradation and rapid recovery once clock synchronization was re-established. Cision
Led by Aquark CEO Andrei Dragomir, Aquark Head of Engineering Jonathan Woods, and Saab UK Group Managing Director Andy Fraser, the trial marks the third collaboration between Aquark and the Royal Navy’s DCTO. The milestone establishes a practical pathway for deploying cold-atom timing infrastructure across naval, land, and aerospace platforms to secure Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) in high-threat, contested operational domains.
Review the trial announcement on Saab Press here, explore cold-atom timing specs via Aquark Technologies here, read media analysis on UK Defence Journal here.
August 12, 2026
