On Tuesday, major geospatial information companies announced new products that can operate drones even in areas where GPS signals are clogged.
The war between Russia and Ukraine presented a unique problem. Each army learned how to jam other GPS signals. This has prompted the latest innovations from Maxar Intelligence, a drone guidance technology that is independent of satellite signals from space.
Currently, a global satellite imaging and geospatial intelligence provider, Maxar has the capability to counter GPS jamming technology through its Raptor system.
“We provide 3D maps for drones, so we can use 3D maps of the world to compare them to video feeds and position ourselves,” Maxar's Chief Product Officer Peter Wilczynski told Fox News Digital.
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This image shows the operation of the ACE software. On the left, the operator watches the live feed from the drone's native camera. On the right side, Maxar's 3D global terrain data is displayed. Using these two views, operators can select and extract the highly accurate coordinates of objects on the ground, demonstrating accuracy within 3 meters of real-world locations. (Maxer Intelligence)
The company's new camera-based recognition software, Raptor, allows drones to navigate and identify ground coordinates for contest regions, which are remote areas where Global Positioning System (GPS) signals have been cut or are not present.
Install Raptor to help the platform navigate the terrain and extract ground coordinates using the drone's existing camera and Maxar's 90 million square kilometers of global 3D topography data.
Other prototypes of terrain-based positioning preceded the Raptor, but Maxer believes it has the largest global collection of high-resolution terrain. “Without GPS, you can reduce the accuracy as much as possible,” says Wilczynski.
This software can build a 3D representation of gliding terrain and provide accurate images at night and 120 meters altitudes.
“This is truly an original thing the Ukrainian War did to the technology of the battlefield,” Wilchinsky said.
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The image shows how the guide can enable the autonomous system to be navigated with accuracy without GPS. Green lines represent the true position of the drone in the real world on a particular flight path. The red line shows location information sent by the drone without GPS, without using a guide. The yellow lines indicate the location information sent by the drone when using the guide without GPS. (Maxer Intelligence)
Countries around the world are developing GPS signal jamming technology to dodge autonomous vehicle attacks. Much of Ukraine, like the larger strips of Europe and the Middle East, has denied GPS. Experts believe that one of the first things China does when invades Taiwan is to block GPS signals to isolate the island.
Maxar's data was important when Ukraine dodged Russia. When the US cut off intelligence sharing, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's army lost access to Maxar's ability to track and assess the damage of Russian forces.
“From a military planning perspective, the future premise is that in conflict, GPS will no longer be a reliable positioning system,” Wilczynski said.
In the Western Hemisphere, GPS jamming is used by drug traffickers to avoid detection and other organized crime operations.
Once considered cutting edge, US GPS risks becoming obsolete as the Chinese, Russian and European systems are now modernised.
The pentagon, along with the Space Force and the military, has been rushing in recent years looking for alternatives when GPS signals are not available on the battlefield. This issue is sharply approaching as enemies like China and Russia develop anti-satellite capabilities.
This image shows a full motion video feed of drones overlaid against Maxar's highly accurate 3D terrain data, representing the real-time data fusion happening in synchronization. All coordinates within the drone's field of view are correlated with the exact location in the real world, demonstrating accuracy within 3 meters of real world location. (Maxer Intelligence)
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This threat is not included in distant conflict zones, nor in everyday life in the United States. Financial systems, emergency services and air traffic can all face a dire emergency without access to satellite systems.
Maxar, as countries around the world, is looking for cutting-edge alternatives to GPS signals, employing Raptor technology for both commercial and defensive purposes.
