Aquark augments networked radars with quantum-based timing in first-of-its kind trial

Aquark Technologies, alongside the Royal Navy, Saab UK, Qinetiq and DSTL, successfully completed a UK trial, working with a Royal Navy ship’s radar system to give accurate navigation information. The trial demonstrates the benefits of integrating quantum-based time servers with two networked radars to maintain a coherent operational picture in GNSS-denied environments.

The trial took place in June 2026 using radars at Saab and Qinetiq sites with the Royal Navy’s experimentation ship XV Patrick Blackett and DSTL acting as network rebroadcast nodes. It is the third trial carried out by Aquark in partnership with the Royal Navy and is a world-first demonstration of a distributed high-performance military radar network maintaining a coherent operational picture using timing sources independent from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).

Jonathan Woods, Head of Engineering at Aquark, briefing partners at Saab and the Royal Navy ahead of the trial.

New concepts of atomic clock operation explored

A time server is a device automatically serving other network elements with information on the time of day. Time servers are essential in modern defence and civilian infrastructure, as they synchronise clocks across computers, networks, financial markets, and security systems such as encryption keys and multi-factor authentication. Ensuring continuous, accurate and reliable time alignment is therefore critical to infrastructure resilience. 

The UK government has put the cost of GNSS outages, which cause disruption to civilian security, aviation, shipping, and financial markets, at £1.42 billion over 24 hours, or £7.64 billion across 7 days. Meanwhile, jamming and spoofing incidents have been climbing steadily in conflict-adjacent regions, with a recent investigation, built on research from the University of Texas, tracing years of unexplained GNSS blackouts across Europe to a constellation of Russian early-warning satellites. It has therefore become necessary for the defence and security industry to demonstrate that their sensor systems can operate even in the absence of GNSS signals. 

The purpose of this trial was to demonstrate the integration of a “quantum-based time server”, a device augmented with frequency information from a cold-atom clock, such as the AQlock, with Saab’s Giraffe 1X operational radar system for the Royal Navy’s Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office (DCTO). 

The trial used cooperative radars, which enhance situational awareness by coordinating multiple sensors. This cooperation was enabled in part by the timing technologies – in this case, the two AQlocks. 

By decoupling the cooperative radars from GNSS-delivered timing, the trial provided an opportunity to explore new concepts of sensor operation. It also provided a reference time independent of GNSS availability, allowing for better situational awareness and positioning information within a contested PNT area.

“This trial is a milestone in the development of UK sovereign quantum technology and a first-of-its-kind application of a UK atomic clock. It’s the first known time that a pair of British built cold atom systems has been deployed in answer to a genuine defence challenge, and we’re very proud to work with Saab and the Royal Navy in this way,” said Matthew Aldous, Timing Lead at Aquark Technologies

The AQlock was integrated with Saab's Giraffe 1X radar capability.

Technical outcomes

1. Two AQlock 2.0 were delivered to two geographically separate locations and started “from cold” to an acceptable timing signal in less than 30 minutes.

2. Two operational radar systems were able to create a single, accurate air picture depending solely on AQlock for their timing, mimicking representative GNSS-denied and GNSS-spoofed conditions.

3. The trial demonstrated predictable performance degradation under timing disruption, and rapid recovery when synchronisation was re-established.

4. This capability provides operators a coherent view of an area, supporting quick and effective decision-making if satellite-based timing services are unavailable or cannot be trusted, especially relevant during a conflict.

Andy Fraser Moore, Group Managing Director at Saab UK, said “This trial is a great example of how collaboration can accelerate innovation. By combining quantum timing technology with Saab’s advanced Giraffe 1X radar system, we have demonstrated a practical capability that could help customers continue to operate effectively when it matters most.”

Read more about the trial from the Royal Navy and Saab.

About AQlock 2.0  

Aquark’s work under the Royal Navy’s “Quantum Optimised Radar” project commenced in December 2025 and resulted in the construction of two viable prototype cold atom clocks from scratch by the end of June 2026. 

AQlock is a source of time and frequency deriving its accuracy and stability from fundamental quantum mechanical effects. Based on an innovative and unique approach, these clocks represent the most robust and deployable known cold atom technology. 

The core of the clock depends on Aquark’s own ‘Super-Molasses Trap’, which has benefits for miniaturisation and scalable deployment, and has been proven on land platforms, naval surface vessels and on an uncrewed air platform.

Aquark previously worked with the Royal Navy to successfully test the AQlock’s performance at sea aboard the HMS Pursuer.

AQlock is a cold atom clock based on Aquark's unique Super-Molasses Trap, which can trap an atom without a magnetic field.

What this trial was not

This trial is distinct from similarly-named activity happening at various research establishments around the world, most notably the University of Birmingham, whose priority is low phase-noise oscillators for enhanced doppler resolution in high-clutter environments and coherent (rather than co-operative) sensing. 

There is overlap between some of the use cases, but messaging around this project should focus on GNSS-independence, long-term timing performance and situational awareness around spoofing and jamming.

The project is further distinct from “quantum illumination” radar types, for example as described here. These experiments are somewhat more controversial within the technical community as to a) their true feasibility at scale and b) their ultimate benefits to end users. They are arguably more “quantum” in that they explicitly use concepts such as “entanglement” but are not using the same background physics as our project.