MIniature Sensing and Timing with QUantum Enhancement - MISTIQUE

MISTIQUE will accelerate the practical benefits of quantum sensors for society. It will derive its research program from the innovation needs of future transport systems and lay the physics and engineering foundations for practical deployment in the real world.

MISTIQUE will address the need for solutions providing accurate navigation and timing without the use of satellite navigation services, or when these are unusable for periods of time.

While satellite navigation services are immensely successful and readily available to everyone in their smartphones and cars, they have one significant drawback in their vulnerability to disruption. Such disruption by natural solar activity, or manmade jamming and spoofing devices has become a threat to our critical national infrastructure and our ability to navigate.

Quantum sensors can in principle provide an extremely resilient solution to this challenge, however they still are too bulky, costly and sensitive to be routinely operated on a moving platform.

MISTIQUE will build upon the successes of the UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing and hone in on the critical research challenges, which will allow the deployment of quantum sensors on moving platforms, ranging from marine vessels to aeroplanes in the first instance.

This will provide the seed-corn to a larger research programme across civil and defence applications. It will provide the UK with small, cost-effective, robust and resilient solutions to critical national infrastructure, such as communication, energy and transport networks, land and water management as well as border control and instil the respective knowledge into the national supply chain.