Spirent Communications, now part of Keysight Technologies, has announced a strategic partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead a groundbreaking initiative aimed at enhancing the resilience of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems used in Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).
This collaborative effort will develop a comprehensive testing framework designed to assess, validate, and improve the robustness of PNT systems crucial for the UK’s vital sectors.
Supported by Element 2 of ESA’s Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), the initiative seeks to raise awareness and establish measurable standards for resilient PNT testing and assessment. Given the UK Government’s 2023 report, The Economic Impact on the UK of a Disruption to GNSS, which estimates that a seven-day GNSS outage could cost the economy £7.6 billion, the importance of this project is underscored. As critical infrastructure increasingly depends on satellite-based PNT data for operations across sectors such as transportation, energy, and telecommunications, ensuring system resilience is paramount.
Mark Holbrow, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development at Spirent Positioning, emphasised the significance of the initiative: “The increasing reliance on PNT underpins operations that people and businesses depend on every day. Yet, for years, organisations have struggled to measure or benchmark their PNT resilience effectively. This new initiative transforms that landscape by providing the tools and frameworks that allow critical infrastructure operators to quantify, track, and improve resilience over time. We’re proud that ESA has entrusted us to lead this important three-year effort.”
The project will support the UK Government’s Resilient PNT Strategy by offering rigorous, quantitative testing evidence and operational insights that enable the evaluation and validation of PNT systems across essential sectors. It will comprise three core components: the Spirent PNT Alliance, PNT Shopfront, and PNT Resiliency Health Check.
The Spirent PNT Alliance will bring together industry players, academic experts, and government bodies—including the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN)—to develop resilience services and promote best practices for CNI operators. The PNT Shopfront will showcase innovative solutions that facilitate the adoption of resilient PNT systems and assist organisations in meeting regulatory compliance standards. Meanwhile, the PNT Resiliency Health Check will provide independent assessments of GNSS equipment, measuring performance, resilience, and security against industry benchmarks.
Dr. Ramsey Faragher, Director of the Royal Institute of Navigation, highlighted the urgency of the initiative: “Intentional and malicious disruptions to GNSS are now commonplace, especially in the aviation and maritime sectors. The Royal Institute of Navigation is committed to raising awareness and promoting the need for improved resilience through thorough testing. The UK is well-positioned to lead in this area and inspire other nations to follow suit. We’re pleased to support initiatives like this from our corporate partners and look forward to helping enhance PNT resilience across critical sectors.”
UK CNI operators in finance, energy, and telecommunications are increasingly vulnerable to GNSS jamming and spoofing threats. This new framework aims to safeguard their operations while positioning the UK as a global leader in PNT resilience testing services, with strong export potential.
