Seen & Heard: Mapping electronic warfare, Türkiye’s satellite system and quantum GPS backup

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

West Point Cadets Map Electronic Warfare
West Point cadets conducted a senior thesis project investigating the use of GNSS technology to map and visualize electronic warfare activities in the South Pacific, specifically focusing on GNSS spoofing. Their research, centered on the Huangpu River and Northeastern Shanghai, aimed to identify patterns of malicious GNSS interference and potential perpetrators, highlighting the strategic and economic motivations behind these actions in the region. By developing data visualizations of spoofing incidents, the cadets created a model that could be scaled up to analyze larger areas.

South Africa Rising Above Water
Researchers from the University of Bonn have found that South Africa’s land is rising by up to 2 mm per year, not because of deep mantle activity, but due to water loss from severe droughts. This uplift was detected using the TrigNet network of GNSS stations, which precisely measures changes in land elevation. As groundwater is depleted, the Earth’s crust rebounds upward — a process GNSS stations can monitor in real time.

Türkiye to Launch Homegrown Satellite Navigation and Mapping System
Türkiye is developing the Regional Positioning and Timing System (BKZS) to launch its own GPS and mapping application, in an effort to reduce dependence on foreign technology and enhance cybersecurity amid growing industrial automation. The system will provide precise location, navigation and timing data via Turkish satellites as an alternative to global systems including GPS, supporting critical sectors such as military operations, civilian communications, smart transportation, and precision agriculture.

Quantum Navigation System Serves as GPS Backup
Q-CTRL, a quantum infrastructure software company based in Sydney, Australia, has demonstrated a new quantum navigation system, Ironstone Opal, as a backup to GPS technology. The Ironstone Opal system uses quantum sensors to detect variations in the Earth’s magnetic field, determining precise geographic coordinates with the help of artificial intelligence-based software. Ironstone Opal is passive and does not emit signals, making it resistant to detection and jamming. Field trials showed the system outperformed a high-end inertial navigation system and served as a reliable GPS backup by up to 50 times in ground vehicles and 11 times in aircraft.