Iridium Unveils Compact Anti-Jamming Chip for Global GNSS Resilience

Satellite communications provider Iridium Communications has announced the development of a compact chip designed to provide robust global protection against GPS and GNSS jamming. The new device leverages Iridium’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network to deliver assured positioning, navigation, and timing (A-PNT) data even in contested or denied environments. This capability addresses growing concerns over the vulnerability of GPS-dependent systems in military and critical infrastructure domains.

Compact Hardware for Resilient Navigation

Dubbed the “Iridium A-PNT module,” the newly developed chip is a low-size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) solution that integrates directly into GPS receivers or other host platforms. The module provides positional data derived from Iridium’s LEO constellation as an alternative or supplement to standard GNSS signals. The chip is approximately the size of a postage stamp and is designed to be embedded into handheld devices, vehicles, unmanned systems (UAVs/UGVs), or fixed installations.

This initiative is part of Iridium’s broader effort to support resilient PNT solutions amid increasing electronic warfare threats. By using Iridium’s 66-satellite mesh network in LEO — which operates independently from GPS — the module can deliver encrypted time and location data that remains viable even when traditional GNSS signals are jammed or spoofed.

Partnership with Redwire and U.S. Government Stakeholders

The chip was co-developed with Redwire Corporation under a cooperative research agreement with the U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The effort also aligns with broader Department of Defense initiatives to develop multi-layered A-PNT architectures that reduce reliance on vulnerable space-based assets like GPS alone.

Redwire contributed its expertise in advanced electronics miniaturization and radiation-hardened components suitable for contested environments. The collaboration reflects a growing trend in defense R&D partnerships between commercial space firms and U.S. military labs seeking rapid prototyping pathways outside traditional acquisition cycles.

This development also complements ongoing work by the Space Development Agency (SDA), which is building out layers of resilient space-based communication and sensing capabilities under its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). While SDA focuses on MEO/LEO constellations for missile tracking and tactical comms, Iridium’s offering provides a complementary path for hardened PNT delivery.

Addressing Military Vulnerabilities in Contested Environments

The increasing prevalence of GNSS jamming — particularly by peer adversaries like Russia and China — has underscored the need for alternative navigation methods across NATO forces. In Ukraine alone, Russian forces have employed widespread GPS denial tactics using ground-based EW systems such as R-330Zh Zhitel and Pole-21M to disrupt drone operations and artillery fire control reliant on precise coordinates.

Assured PNT has therefore become a top priority across U.S., UK, EU/NATO defense planning documents since 2021. Solutions range from inertial navigation systems (INS), celestial navigation aids, quantum clocks — to now satellite-based alternatives like Iridium’s A-PNT module that bypass traditional vulnerabilities by operating on different frequencies from different orbital regimes.

Unlike GPS satellites operating at ~20,200 km altitude in MEO (~12-hour orbit), Iridium’s satellites orbit at ~780 km altitude (~100-minute period), making their signals harder to jam due to higher signal strength at ground level and more dynamic geometry across time.

Integration Potential Across Military Platforms

The small form factor of the A-PNT module opens up integration opportunities across multiple domains:

• Dismounted soldiers: Embedded into soldier radios or handheld navigators for jam-resistant location awareness during maneuver operations.
• Unmanned systems: UAVs/UGVs can maintain autonomous operation even when denied access to conventional GNSS signals.
• Ground vehicles: Tactical wheeled or tracked platforms can retain accurate blue-force tracking capabilities under EW attack conditions.
• C4ISR nodes: Command posts can synchronize operations without relying solely on GPS-derived timing inputs vulnerable to spoofing attacks.

The chip supports standard interfaces such as UART/SPI/I²C for easy hardware integration into existing mission systems. According to Iridium executives speaking at recent industry events such as GEOINT Symposium 2024 and SOF Week 2024, field trials are underway with select DoD components under classified programs evaluating performance under live jamming scenarios.

Civilian Infrastructure Applications Also Targeted

Irium notes that while initial demand stems from defense users facing active EW threats overseas, critical civilian infrastructure operators are also potential adopters. Sectors such as aviation (e.g., ADS-B synchronization), maritime shipping lanes (e.g., port approach timing), telecommunications networks (e.g., cell tower sync), financial markets (e.g., transaction timestamping), railways signaling systems — all rely heavily on precise timing inputs currently sourced from vulnerable GNSS constellations like GPS/Galileo/GLONASS/BeiDou.

The A-PNT module could serve as an affordable backup layer ensuring continuity during outages caused by natural disruption (solar storms) or deliberate interference events — including cyberattacks against upstream satellite control segments or spoofing campaigns targeting urban environments (“meaconing”).

Toward Multi-Layered Assured PNT Architectures

The Pentagon’s current strategy emphasizes layered resilience through diversity of sources: combining space-based alternatives like Iridium’s LEO delivery path with terrestrial backups such as eLORAN revival efforts; onboard INS aided by AI-driven drift correction; optical navigation; RF mapping; crowdsourced signal-of-opportunity exploitation; etc.

A key advantage of leveraging commercial constellations like Iridium is immediate global coverage without requiring new launches or dedicated government payloads — reducing time-to-field significantly compared to bespoke military satellite programs which often face decade-long procurement timelines.

This aligns with DoD Undersecretary Heidi Shyu’s push toward Modular Open Systems Approaches (MOSA) where plug-and-play components can be rapidly integrated into Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2) frameworks without vendor lock-in or proprietary bottlenecks.

Outlook: Field Testing Before Full-Scale Deployment

No official date has been announced yet for full-rate production or wide-scale deployment of the A-PNT module. However, given its TRL level appears beyond lab prototype stage — with real-world testing underway — initial operational capability could emerge within FY2025 depending on user feedback from pilot programs across Army Futures Command units or Special Operations Forces elements currently engaged in Indo-Pacific theater exercises where jamming risk is high.

If successful at scale-up manufacturing via Redwire’s microelectronics facilities in Florida or Alabama locations supporting NASA payload work today — this chip could become a standard component embedded across future MILSPEC radios under programs like HMS Manpack Gen3 or Next-Gen Squad Weapon Fire Control modules integrating fused sensor/PNT functions into optics themselves.