British Navy Successfully Tests Quantum Navigation System

GPS has changed the way we move around the globe.

But if one commands a warship, one must consider, "What should be done if an adversary destroys/disrupts the GPS system?" Now, the Royal Navy and Imperial College London think a quantum navigation system could be the answer - the main difference between it and GPS is the absence of satellites.

Of course, Heisenberg has said that we cannot know our speed and position at the same time; but on a real-world level, we can apparently make the two close enough.

Quantum sensors are essentially accelerometers; but unlike traditional accelerometers, these devices use ultracold atoms and make very precise measurements via a laser optical ruler, which makes them less likely to drift as fast as the accelerometers in cell phones. Navigating with accelerometers is well understood, but the problem is that due to the accumulation of drift and other errors, we must often correct the calculated position with an actual reference.

In this case, the relevant quantum navigation tests were carried out in a rapid prototyping module carried on board the XV Patrick Blackett, an experimental ship for which Lord Blackett is a Nobel laureate and head of the physics department at Imperial College.

The Royal Navy successfully conducted the first test of their quantum navigation system, which enables a ship to know its precise location anywhere in the world without GPS. While the cryogenic technology and lasers needed for this "quantum compass" may not be available in smartphones anytime soon, the technology may have civilian applications in large vehicles: submarines cannot utilize GPS while underwater, so the system could one day be built into underwater vessels.

This test placed the quantum navigation system in a shipping container strapped to an experimental ship. Inside the container is a quantum gas pedal: it is essentially a compressed steel sphere that holds and cools about a billion rubidium-87 atoms; lasers are used to capture the atoms: at this point they behave less like particles and more like a wave.

Measuring this behavior makes it possible for researchers to accurately determine the effect of gravity on the system, allowing them to measure the speed and direction of its motion.

The use of quantum navigation on a real warship would be "particularly useful" for submarines.

Reference links:

[1] https://list23.com/1470317-for-the-first-time-quantum-navigation-has-been-able-to-be-simulated-without-satellites/

[2]https://list23.com/1470731-for-the-first-time-quantum-navigation-has-been-attempted-without-satellites/

[3]https://hackaday.com/2023/06/07/royal-navy-tests-quantum-navigation/

[4]https://www.techeblog.com/royal-navy-quantum-navigation-experimental-ship/