Insider Brief
- Zephr.xyz has secured a $1.74 million SBIR Direct-to-Phase II contract from AFRL to develop a system that detects and geolocates GPS/GNSS jamming and spoofing threats in contested environments.
- The company’s “networked GNSS” technology, which transforms mobile phones into a distributed GNSS receiver network, will be tested in Ukraine and U.S. military exercises before integration with TAK systems.
- Zephr.xyz’s solution leverages mobile-based signal detection and cooperative positioning to enhance resilience against electronic warfare, with applications extending to both defense and civilian infrastructure.
PRESS RELEASE — Zephr.xyz, a leading innovator in augmented position, navigation, and timing (AugPNT) technologies, today announced it has been awarded a $1.74 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct-to-Phase II contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop an advanced capability to strengthen operational awareness and resilience for U.S. warfighters. The new system will provide real-time detection of GPS/GNSS jamming and spoofing in contested domains while geolocating the sources of these attacks.
As part of the program, Zephr.xyz’s dual-use “networked GNSS” technology – which turns ordinary mobile phones into a high-fidelity GNSS receiver network – will undergo rigorous field testing in Ukraine and multiple U.S. military exercises before integration with the Department of Defense’s Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Team Awareness Kit (TAK).
“We are excited to work with AFRL to equip warfighters and civilian agencies with real-time signal detection capabilities for jamming and spoofing while also determining the locations of these emitters so that countermeasures can be taken,” said Sean Gorman, PhD, CEO of Zephr.xyz. “With GNSS interference becoming a persistent threat in modern conflicts, having a scalable, mobile-based solution that delivers rapid, high-fidelity detection and geolocation is a game-changer. This technology will enable frontline forces to maintain situational awareness in contested environments and provide a critical tool for defending both military and civilian infrastructure against electronic warfare threats.”
A Critical Challenge in an Increasingly Contested World:
As geopolitical conflicts intensify, GNSS interference poses a severe risk to battlefield situational awareness, force protection and national security. It also threatens civilian infrastructure, with the potential to disrupt commercial aviation, maritime navigation, medevac operations and financial systems.
Current methods for detecting jamming, spoofing and the sources of these attacks are often ineffective. Zephr.xyz’s field research in active conflict zones in Ukraine and Israel has demonstrated that many GNSS interference detection and localization techniques – while widely cited in the literature – fail in real-world battlefield conditions. For instance, Russia’s high-powered wideband jammers in Ukraine have made time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA) techniques difficult to implement. By jamming all frequency bands, they not only disrupt timing information for TDoA but can also saturate nearby receivers. Even outside combat zones, lower-grade adversary tactics can overwhelm conventional monitoring systems due to insufficient sensor coverage and technical limitations. These shortcomings lead to low-fidelity results and significant gaps in the “areas of effect.”
Delivering a Battlefield-Ready Solution:
Zephr.xyz is addressing these challenges with a customized solution for real-time detection, classification and localization of signals of interest (SoI) and signals of opportunity (SoOPs). Since early 2024, the company has conducted extensive field testing and research in Ukraine and Israel to analyze evolving GNSS interference tactics.
Its advanced software suite leverages widely distributed mobile devices to create a decentralized sensor network. By collecting raw GNSS measurements – such as carrier-to-noise ratio – Zephr.xyz can identify key indicators of electronic attacks. These insights are processed in a mobile client-server environment, enabling real-time detection and classification, a capability that is critical for military operations. Additionally, Zephr.xyz’s technology can geolocate the source of an attack using sophisticated signal processing techniques.
Beyond detection, Zephr.xyz has the ability to enhance positioning accuracy on TAK devices, providing critical support for various operational scenarios. By deploying a cooperative positioning system that integrates GNSS measurements from multiple devices with Position, Velocity, Attitude and Timing (PVAT) data, Zephr.xyz strengthens both resilience and accuracy in contested environments.
Zephr.xyz’s detection and classification capabilities will be available as an SDK, allowing mobile applications like TAK to alert users and enhance positioning accuracy in electronic warfare scenarios.
Developing Advanced PNT Solutions for Global Challenges:
This is just one of several defense initiatives Zephr.xyz is advancing. The company was also recently selected for the 2024 NSIN Propel Hawaii cohort, where it is collaborating with the U.S. Air Force and its partners to enhance GNSS resilience in the Indo-Pacific region.
Designed from the outset as a dual-use technology, Zephr.xyz’s advanced solutions undergo rigorous field testing in the most challenging environments to ensure they meet battlefield demands. At the same time, they support a range of commercial and civilian applications, including smart cities, autonomy and augmented reality – providing a scalable, resilient alternative to traditional GNSS infrastructure.
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