Inside Quantum Technology

IQT-Blog: Electronic Warfare Countermeasures are Driving a New Market for Quantum-Enhanced Smart Munitions

(IQT-BLOG) PNT (Position, Navigation and Timing) information is crucial on the modern battlefield for navigation and delivering smart munitions. Global Position Systems (GPS) have been the mainstay of military PNT since the late 1970s. But, as seen recently in both the Ukraine and Syria, electronic warfare (EW) countermeasures are increasingly effective at reducing the accuracy of smart munitions to the level of unguided munitions.

Indeed, what we believe at Inside Quantum Technology is that we are already nearing an inflection point where GPS will begin to diminish in important applications. As a result, we foresee a growing market for EW-resistant guidance techniques using quantum sensors that will be worth about $150 million in 2026.

In essence, what we see happening is smart munitions making a transition from an external frame of reference guidance (meaning GPS) to an internal form of guidance not susceptible to EW interference.

What we think the smart munitions market is also looking for is lower costs. What we are being told is not just that the current GPS-based artillery systems are susceptible to GPS interference but that the flagship US GPS guided round is unacceptably expensive. Each GPS guided Excalibur 155 mm round is estimated to cost around $100,000. The other GPS option for artillery systems is a fuse substitute GPS guidance system that costs around $2,000 per round, but it is not as accurate as the Excalibur system.

CSACs, CSQAs and Smart Munitions

We see the development of Chip Scale Atomic Clocks (CSACs) and Chip Scale Quantum Accelerometers (CSQAs) as key to this effort. But for the next couple of years Inside Quantum Technology, believes that much of the money in this space being spent on R&D, but this will change:

 

 

 

Where the Money Will Get Spent

Given the cost and technological imperatives described above, Inside Quantum Technology believes there are two areas where much of the money will get spent in the next few years:

 

 

 

 

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