NovAtel’s GPS Anti-Jam Technology selected for Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigates

On 29 November, NovAtel announced that its GPS Anti-Jam Technology had been selected to go on the future Royal Navy (RN) Type 26 frigates, the first set of which will enter service in the early 2020s.

NovAtel offers three Anti-Jamming technologies: GAJT-710ML Anti-Jam Antenna, for use on military land vehicles; GAJT-710MS Anti-Jam Antenna, for marine applications; and, GAJT-AE-N Anti-Jam Antenna, for smaller platforms and which was recently tested by the Canadian Army. The GAJT-710MS Anti-Jam Antenna is the one that will likely be fitted on the Type 26 frigates to protect their GPS-based navigation and precise timing receivers from intentional jamming and accidental interference, ensuring that the satellite signals necessary to compute position and time are always available.

The system uses NovAtel’s patented seven-element Pinwheel CRPA to receive GPS signals in the L1 and L2 bands. The application of proprietary digital beam forming algorithms to the signals ensures interference mitigation, creating dynamic nulls to give protection against narrowband and broadband interference sources. It features up to 40 dB of additional anti-jamming protection and a single enclosure system.

“The selection of GAJT for the Type 26 Frigates is the result of cooperation between Drumgrange, with its proven track record for rapid realisation of demanding defence design tasks, and Forsberg Services, an established navigation systems company and NovAtel dealer whose high quality manufacturing was instrumental to the project,” Peter Soar, Business Development Manager, Military and Defence of NovAtel, said. “GAJT is in use operationally and has been shipped to 16 allied nations around the globe. We are grateful for the rigorous technology selection process conducted which led to this choice.”