UK ‘Silent Hangar’ to help protect against foreign GPS jamming

UK company QinetiQ has been awarded a £20 million ($38.9 million) contract to build a radio frequency, anti-jamming test facility at the UK Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down flight test centre in Wiltshire. This will be one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe and will help military equipment to be better protected from attempts to jam GPS devices.

The facility will provide a key Electronic Warfare capability to develop UK assets that can perform in the harshest electromagnetic environments on operations, says the UK MoD. The so-called ‘silent hangar’ will be large enough to fit some of the biggest military assets, including Protector drones, Chinook helicopters, and F-35 fighter jets – a far greater capacity than existing UK facilities.

Due to open in 2026, the anechoic hangar creates a perfect environment to test the integrity of the UK’s military equipment. The hangar also prevents testing affecting other RF spectrum users, such as emergency services and air traffic control.

Electronic Warfare is one of six so-called advanced technologies listed under Pillar 2 of AUKUS, the tripartite US-UK-Australia partnership. The facility will support new roles over the next two years for the local area around Boscombe Down, further enhancing the UK’s pool of electromagnetic expertise, and skilled technical jobs. It will also offer a range of opportunities beyond defence, to wider government, industry and to critical national infrastructure, says Defence.

The UK Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Maria Eagle, said: “Hostile threats jamming GPS to disorientate military equipment has become increasingly common. This cutting-edge test facility will help us eliminate vulnerabilities from our platforms, protect our national security and keep our Armed Forces better protected on global deployments.”

The specialist hangar will reduce reflections, echoes or the escape of radio-frequency waves. The GPS simulators and threat emulators inside the chamber will provide the ability for the UK to create a number of hostile environments to test how well equipment can withstand jamming, and other threats, that attempt to confuse or disrupt military assets.

“On an increasingly digital battlefield, the debilitating effects of electronic warfare are a persistent threat,” said Will Blamey, Chief Executive, UK Defence, QinetiQ. “The testing we will conduct using this new facility will be integral to strengthening the resilience of military equipment, which in turn enhances the safety and security of our Armed Forces and the United Kingdom.”

“Not only will this be one of the largest such chambers in Europe, but it will also be one of the most up to date and high-tech in the world,” according to Richard Bloomfield, Head of Electronic Warfare (CBRN) Space at the UK MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support agency. “Hostile environments can be safely recreated to put military equipment, such as fighter jets and drones, through testing to understand their performance in challenging environments representing the many external threats that may be faced.”