GOV/MIL DARPA Plans GPS Replacement With Atomic Clocks For Military Applications

[Housecarl]

This is a DOT....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.defenseworld.net/news/14...Clocks_For_Military_Applications#.Vn9ihaTMvIV

DARPA Plans GPS Replacement With Atomic Clocks For Military Applications

Source : Our Bureau ~ Dated : Saturday, December 26, 2015 @ 11:33 AM
Views : 1860 A- A A+

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to replace Global Positions Systems with Atomic Clocks with Enhanced Stability (ACES).

“All of our modern communications, navigation and electronic warfare systems, as well as our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, depend on accurate time-keeping,” said Lutwak, who will oversee the new program, called Atomic Clocks with Enhanced Stability (ACES) Wednesday in an official press release. “If ACES is successful, virtually every Defense Department system will benefit,” he said.

Among their myriad potential advantages, better clocks could reduce one of the more worrisome modern-day national security vulnerabilities: a deep and growing dependence on the Global Positioning System (GPS), not just within the military but among numerous civilian sectors of the economy. That’s because satellite-based atomic clocks—whose precision and accuracy reside in super-uniform, high-frequency oscillations of atomic energy states (typically those of cesium or rubidium atoms) rather than the mechanical oscillations of pendulums or the quartz crystals inside modern watches, cell phones and computers—provide the key reference signals that are pivotal to GPS.

The longer that clocks on Earth or on aircraft can maintain extreme accuracy in the absence of satellite reference signals, the lower the impact of any loss of satellite contact, whether caused by natural forces or adversarial activities.

One of the greatest episodes in the history of clock-making unfolded over three decades during the 18th century in response to a government challenge to overcome a daunting and often deadly problem: Find a way to reliably determine a ship’s east-west position, or longitude, on the high seas.

 

[Weps]

This is one of a few replacements they've been working on, like PINS and ASPN.

 

[Lone_Hawk]

Interesting that they are stepping back in technology. Our data centers used to be run on clock distrobution systems that centered around atomic clocks. With the advent of GPS, the atomic clocks were replaced with GPS systems. Now, they are stepping back from that. This to me is a red flag that they are expecting the GPS constilation fo become unavailable, and our current high speed data systems are dependent of very precise timing with virtually no variation in the timing.

Without precise timing your cell phone doesn't work. Your computer doesn't work, data communications, and all communications now are digital. It all stops talking to each other. The old ways without this precise timing are no longer available except for HAM operators and such. They are expectng something to happen.

 

[TerryK]

GPS satellites already use atomic clocks. In fact each satellite contains several atomic clocks.

 

[Housecarl]

GPS satellites already use atomic clocks. In fact each satellite contains several atomic clocks.

What DARPA/DoD is talking about is putting in place atomic clock containing systems into individual ships, aircraft, vehicles and probably some "black box" for individual land navigation to work in the absence of those satellites. As Lone Hawk stated, this is a step backwards from just having to carry a "cheap" receiver around.

 

[Lone_Hawk]

What DARPA/DoD is talking about is putting in place atomic clock containing systems into individual ships, aircraft, vehicles and probably some "black box" for individual land navigation to work in the absence of those satellites. As Lone Hawk stated, this is a step backwards from just having to carry a "cheap" receiver around.

Carl,

This is a 20 year step backwards. In the 28 years that I was involved, I have never seen a step back. I know what I am thinking, what are your thoughts?

 

[Housecarl]

Carl,

This is a 20 year step backwards. In the 28 years that I was involved, I have never seen a step back. I know what I am thinking, what are your thoughts?

IMHO they're preparing for either some solar weather event or "hostile interruption" of the current system.

 

[West]

Interesting DOT, TY.

For this peon I'll go dust off my atomic sundial. Basically work sun up to sun down, if the net and electricity goes down.

 

[Dozdoats]

GPS has been proved vulnerable in significant ways.

The Army didn't just start teaching map and compass land nav to SF again because the GPS stuff was so dependable...

 

[MountainBiker]

Interesting DOT, TY.

For this peon I'll go dust off my atomic sundial. Basically work sun up to sun down, if the net and electricity goes down.

Yes, a very interesting dot. I am glad they are beginning to recognize the vulnerabilities we have created for ourselves.

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

Interesting that they are stepping back in technology. Our data centers used to be run on clock distrobution systems that centered around atomic clocks. With the advent of GPS, the atomic clocks were replaced with GPS systems. Now, they are stepping back from that. This to me is a red flag that they are expecting the GPS constilation fo become unavailable, and our current high speed data systems are dependent of very precise timing with virtually no variation in the timing.

Without precise timing your cell phone doesn't work. Your computer doesn't work, data communications, and all communications now are digital. It all stops talking to each other. The old ways without this precise timing are no longer available except for HAM operators and such. They are expectng something to happen.

The satellite constellation consists of 66 satellites. The oldest of them are 30 plus years old. the GAO has flat out stated repeatedly that the system is in a state of imminent failure. This year alone they reactivated some of the old LORAN sites to bring it back up online as a backup.

This failure planning is not due to cyber attacks and satellite attacks, it is due to the fact we have orbital equipment beyond the point of repair and already suffering from slowly building cascading failures.

We do not have the money to launch more satellites. We now longer have the educational institutions to foster the great minds that brought us this tech.

 

[night driver]

We now longer have the educational institutions to foster the great minds that brought us this tech.

I'm thinking that the guys & gals at MIT, CALTECH, RPI, Clarkson, and Carnegie Mellon might dispute that comment just a tad.

 

[WalknTrot]

One is none, two is one...

Sounds like maybe there are people planning for a few disruptions. Good. Also for our military assets to be able to function as self-contained units without a lot of tech interconnectivity. Again, good. Firing up LORAN again? Very interesting.

Would like to have been a mouse in the corner for some of that war gaming.

 

[TerryK]

Here are the other pages of the article, which I should have read



British clockmaker John Harrison won the prize, equivalent to millions of today’s dollars, for his invention of a chronometer that remained stable enough for navigators to make accurate longitude calculations even during long-distance sea voyages.

Until Harrison’s advance, the inaccuracies of clocks at sea meant that ships, crews and cargoes routinely ended up far from their intended destinations, or worse, lost at sea. Now, with an ambitious new DARPA effort, program manager Robert Lutwak is seeking a modern-day breakthrough in atomic clocks analogous to Harrison’s centuries-old achievement in mechanical clocks—one that will give warfighters and others enormous advantages related to position, navigation and timing for extended periods after they last synchronized with a reference clock.

DARPA will convene a Proposers Day on February 1, 2016, to provide information and promote additional discussion on the ACES program, address questions from potential proposers, and provide an opportunity for potential proposers to share their capabilities and ideas for teaming arrangements.

How critical is constant contact today? Within 30 seconds of a GPS shut-down, a GPS receiver would only be able to specify that it was somewhere within an area the size of Washington, DC. An hour of GPS shutdown would expand the area of uncertainty to more than the size of Montana. It would not take long for warfighters in deserts and sailors at sea to lose their bearings; for the critical synchrony in radiofrequency, electronic and photonic signaling to disappear; and for high-precision munitions to be stripped of the astounding navigational control that has changed the character of modern warfare.


This is where ACES comes in. The technology challenge specified in the three-phase program, budgeted for up to $50 million, is to design and build a new generation of palm-sized, battery-powered atomic clocks that perform up to 1,000 times better than the current generation—which itself is the outcome of previous DARPA efforts, including the Chip-Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) program.

The ACES program also specifies that the new clocks must fit into a package about the size of a billfold and run on a mere quarter-watt of power. Success will require record-breaking advances that counter accuracy-eroding processes in current atomic clocks, among them variations in atomic frequencies that result from temperature fluctuations and subtle frequency differences that can occur if the power shuts down and then starts up again.

“It will take a collaboration of teams with skillsets from diverse fields, including atomic physics, optics, photonics, micro-fabrication and vacuum technology to achieve the unprecedented clock stability that we seek,” Lutwak said.

In ACES’ first phase, performers will be allowed to build their components in a roomy laboratory, but must show that the parts operate together as an atomic clock with improved stability compared to existing ones. In the second phase, those who continue in the program will be called to integrate and pack the clock components of the system—including miniaturized lasers, thermal controllers, shutters, modulators and other optical elements, along with a tiny vessel of oscillating atoms—into a package no larger than 30 cm3 (two cubic inches).

In the final phase, performers will need to also incorporate the associated electronics into a package with a volume no more than 50 cm3, slight enough to hold in a clasped hand and to fly in small unmanned aerial vehicles.

 

[Fetz]

I can see where an extremely accurate clock could work with a mapping program (DeLorme, Google) to give you longitude, but what is the source for latitude in a handheld device ?

 

[Sacajawea]

Sounds like someone had to finally admit that over-complexity in systems leads to entropy. And that it's a bad idea to just rely on those "conveniences".

 

[GreenGecko]

I can see where an extremely accurate clock could work with a mapping program (DeLorme, Google) to give you longitude, but what is the source for latitude in a handheld device ?

Silicon motion sensors. Simply track all motion and acceleration since the last known fix.
http://www.nist.gov/cnst/nanophotonic_motion_sensor.cfm

Errors that creep in can be corrected during a clear night sky with just a small, integrated camera pointed at the star field if one knows the time and has a database. (both camera and database will fit on a chip)

 

[Weps]

I can see where an extremely accurate clock could work with a mapping program (DeLorme, Google) to give you longitude, but what is the source for latitude in a handheld device ?

http://www.darpa.mil/program/adaptable-navigation-systems

http://people.csail.mit.edu/chiu/projects_files/ASPN.htm

 

[The Mountain]

http://www.darpa.mil/program/adaptable-navigation-systems

http://people.csail.mit.edu/chiu/projects_files/ASPN.htm

Neat. i want one. Plus, unlike GPS solutions such as the DAGR, they wouldn't need periodic software updates to stay relevant, and there would be no way to obfuscate them the way the .mil can currently "cripple" civilian GPS systems.

 

[Meadowlark]

Any signal can be blocked, faked or altered, meaning that GPS signals can be compromised at critical times. It is far better to be independently sourced.

 

[LoupGarou]

GPS has been proved vulnerable in significant ways.

The Army didn't just start teaching map and compass land nav to SF again because the GPS stuff was so dependable...

With everybody and their mother having anti-satellite tech, I don't expect the GPS to be working either for long after anything breaks out on a more than regional scale.

They also need localized, extremely accurate time for their next level of crypto (quantum) as well as the next few phases of colorless core development. Think all of the systems that they have now, with autonomous or semi-autonomous capability. Note the mention of it having to be small enough to fit IN a UAV... Think Skynet...

Loup

 

[Knoxville's Joker]

I'm thinking that the guys & gals at MIT, CALTECH, RPI, Clarkson, and Carnegie Mellon might dispute that comment just a tad.

From the classes I have taken and all the college goers I have seen coming from all the area universities, and the comments from the professors, education is a joke compared to what it once was. The core cause: everyone thinks college education is a right and not a privilege, a requirement and not a want. To do that the bar has to be raised so low that the material and subject matter covered does not have a depth that even compares to what we had a 100 years ago. Throw in all the degree mills and all the competition and bad mouthing they give each other and there will be issues. College has gone from a place of learning, to a place where debt is created and money is grabbed and the degrees made in such numbers that the intrinsic value becomes greatly diminished regardless of who issues the piece of paper. And let us no forget no child left behind where they drop the bar even lower in high school and middle school still churning out children that can barely read after getting their high school diploma.

And without that preface yes, my comment would seem rather inflammatory. My only intention was to point out the fact that we now have severe deficiencies in our work force with properly trained AND motivated employees that can create what is needed. How many people have you seen with a degree/certifications at your work place that is not driven to excel, exceed, and master everything?

 

[Rastech]

Education 'went wrong' around the time of WW1. By the late 1920's, Buckminster Fuller had already noticed it and commented very unfavourably on it in one of his books (he blamed the use of radio, and people being required to follow radio'd orders rather than be able to think on their feet - well that's panned out really well with politicians and bureaucrats, hasn't it? Let alone everyone else). Problems with Education accelerated dramatically from the end of the 1950's. It's now about worthless bits of paper that create massive amounts of debt for money creation. Assisting pupils in their needs (as well as employers needs) to equip them for managing and living their lives, no longer counts for squat.

When I heard that the US Navy was once again requiring the teaching of Astro Navigation, I for one cheered very loudly (it should never have been dropped, but this does mean maths teaching in schools is now going to have to buckle down to the task of preparing people for that necessity, forcing change, which will help everybody). Over here Education had gone similarly wrong, and bad enough by the mid 1960's that essential Royal Navy exams had to be 'dumbed down' because new influxes of students were no longer capable of passing the proper exams.

This is a GLOBAL PROBLEM!

When I pick up my boat, the four most important things going on it (other than water, fuel, and food), are a cheap Mk 3 Davis plastic sextant (accurate enough, with not much practice I could get within 5 miles, and that's all you need for getting to a safe position near a shore, where a bearing compass can take over), an almanac of sighting tables, an accurate quartz watch, and that bearing compass. With the SSB SW receiver (I picked up a really nice Tecsun 880 so I will be able to pick up Weatherfax and Navtex broadcasts too) I'll be able to adjust watch accuracy along the way as necessary (though a lot of even cheap quartz watches are reliable enough - my old Timex continues to amaze me, I just checked it and it is under 2 seconds out in over 18 months - but I'll be picking up a useful Casio Tough Solar triple sensor, with built in barometer and compass, the Timex can stay on GMT for cross checking).

Of course a cheap GPS chart plotter will be mainly used (as well as for me to check my accuracy as I practice again with the sextant), due to affordable Navionics charts covering me wherever I want to go (plus I can print screen with overlaid sonar charts for destinations, so it can even help navigate into port using sea bottom features), but if the systems go down, I will know when I have to heave to or anchor a safe distance out from land overnight, so I can approach in daylight with suitable tides.

When you get right down to it, this sort of example is just a small indicator of the mass of knowledge that should never have been let slide. Nobody has benefitted from it.

eta: In many ways, the real disaster today, the consequence of all of this that has been done to us, is opinions now counting for far more than facts, and that somehow, assumptions serving agendas, count as 'Science'. You will not believe the number of 'peer reviewed studies' I have read, that are loaded with assumptions and opinion, yet are totally lacking in 'Science' (this had become so noticeably bad by the late 1990's, as a result I cancelled all of my Journal subscriptions at the time).