European Countermeasures – The Rise of Terrestrial and Alternative PNT
- Bridge Connect
- Jul 28, 2025
- 5 min read
Introduction: The “Single Point of Failure” Problem
Europe is waking up to a sobering reality: the Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) infrastructure underpinning everything from aviation to electricity is vulnerable—and it has no Plan B.
For decades, GPS and other GNSS systems (Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou) have served as invisible, trusted infrastructure. But Russia’s sustained electronic warfare campaign, which has brought GNSS jamming to Poland, Germany, and the Baltic-Nordic region, has exposed a fatal flaw: overdependence on fragile, space-based signals.
Now, Europe is scrambling to build redundancy into its PNT fabric—turning to terrestrial radio navigation systems, fiber-delivered timing, inertial alternatives, and emerging low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations.
This article explores:
The current countermeasure landscape
Major national initiatives
The emerging role of eLORAN, PTP, and LEO timing
Barriers to implementation
What a future APNT (Assured PNT) architecture might look like for Europe
1. The Urgency of Building Resilience
In the face of GNSS denial by state actors, Europe’s vulnerabilities have been made painfully clear. Key stats:
Over 4,000 jamming incidents reported in EU airspace in 2024 alone (EASA)
UK report (2023): A single day’s GNSS outage could cost £1 billion across finance, logistics, and aviation
Power grid and telecom operators in Finland, Germany, and France now list GNSS dependency as a Tier-1 operational risk
European policymakers and operators are no longer asking if alternatives are needed—but how fast they can be deployed.
2. eLORAN: Europe’s Comeback to Terrestrial Navigation
What Is eLORAN?
Enhanced LORAN (eLORAN) is a ground-based, low-frequency radio navigation system originally developed during WWII. Unlike GNSS, which uses weak satellite signals (~ -130 dBm), eLORAN transmits high-power (~100 kW) signals that are:
Resistant to jamming and spoofing
Capable of penetrating buildings, underground, and coastal environments
Deliver both navigation and precise timing
UK Leadership in eLORAN
The UK’s National PNT Office, established in 2023, has prioritised eLORAN as a sovereign backup to GPS/Galileo. As of 2025:
Trials have begun at former LORAN-C stations at Anthorn, Rugby, and Exmouth
Plans call for Initial Operating Capability by 2028, and Full Operating Capability by 2030
The UK is working with France and the Netherlands to explore cross-border signal coverage
eLORAN's integration into the 10-Point UK PNT Resilience Plan has positioned it as Europe’s testbed for terrestrial APNT solutions.
France and Norway
France’s DGAC and defence ministry are reviewing coverage extension from the UK network
Norway has reactivated LORAN-C infrastructure in Vardø and Bø for Arctic trials, given the region’s acute GNSS interference exposure
3. Timing Resilience: Precision Time Over Fiber
Why Timing Matters
GNSS isn’t just about navigation—it provides ultra-precise time that synchronises:
5G mobile towers
Power grid phase angles (synchrophasors)
Financial transactions
Data centre logs and blockchain validation
Without accurate time, entire sectors can experience:
Dropped calls and mobile handover failures
Trading errors and audit failures
Grid instability and blackouts
Fiber-Based Alternatives
Many European countries are now deploying Precision Time Protocol (PTP) over fiber networks. Key initiatives:
Germany: Deutsche Telekom and 50Hertz are building dual-path PTP timing infrastructure for power and telecom sectors
France: Orange has launched a "Trusted Time" service for enterprise customers using redundant PTP Grandmasters and Rubidium atomic clocks
Italy and the Netherlands: Pilot projects underway for shared PTP access to telecom, finance, and energy sectors
Some are even integrating White Rabbit—a CERN-developed extension of PTP that offers sub-nanosecond accuracyover fiber.
4. LEO Satellite-Based PNT: A New Space Race
GNSS satellites orbit at ~20,000 km, making their signals easy to jam. But Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations at ~500–1,200 km are much harder to interfere with due to:
Higher signal strength at Earth’s surface
Frequent satellite refresh cycles
Ability to integrate encrypted, directional signals
Emerging LEO PNT Solutions:
Satelles (US): Offers timing services via Iridium LEO network; now in pilot trials in Sweden and Italy
Xona Space Systems (US): Building a dedicated LEO PNT constellation; evaluating European partnerships
OneWeb (UK): Investigating timing-as-a-service layers over existing broadband constellations
The EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA) is studying LEO-based backup services under Horizon Europe funding, possibly via Galileo Gen 2 collaboration.
5. Inertial, Celestial, and Sensor Fusion Alternatives
Inertial Navigation Systems (INS)
INS solutions are gaining renewed interest, particularly for:
Military vehicles and aircraft
High-value drones
Commercial aviation fallback
While drift is a problem (position errors accumulate over time), modern MEMS-based IMUs, aided by AI sensor fusion, are improving reliability.
Celestial Navigation Revived
The French Navy and German Bundeswehr are reinvesting in:
Celestial tracking systems for ships and submarines
Optical gyroscopes for high-precision inertial fixes
Star trackers mounted on UAVs for independent orientation
These approaches are being combined with vision-based AI systems to enable passive PNT when GNSS is denied.
6. Civil Sector Adaptation: From Aviation to Energy
Aviation
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has:
Mandated RNP fallback procedures across 50+ major EU airports
Published GNSS Degradation Operating Procedures (GDOP) for airlines
Expanded terrain-based and VOR/DME navigation availability in Baltic and Eastern European corridors
Energy
TSOs (Transmission System Operators) in France, Austria, and Finland now require GNSS+atomic+fiber triple redundancy in smart grid control rooms
ENTSO-E is drafting an EU-wide PNT resilience standard for the power sector by 2026
Telecom
5G infrastructure now includes multi-source timing modules that can accept:
GNSS
Fiber PTP
LEO timing
Holdover from Rubidium oscillators (in case all else fails)
7. Obstacles to Widespread Deployment
Despite the momentum, serious barriers remain:
Funding gaps: Few countries have ring-fenced budgets for national APNT programmes
Regulatory fragmentation: No common EU framework for APNT infrastructure
Awareness deficit: Many civilian operators still unaware of their GNSS exposure
Legacy bias: Assumptions that GNSS is "good enough" persist in many industries
The cost of eLORAN or fiber infrastructure is often seen as unjustified—until failure happens.
8. The Path Forward: Toward an Assured PNT Architecture
Europe needs a strategic blueprint for APNT—Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing—across sectors. Key components:
Terrestrial diversity: eLORAN + fiber + RF mapping
Space diversity: GNSS + LEO + future encrypted constellations
Sensor diversity: Inertial + visual + environmental sensors
Institutional alignment: NATO, EUSPA, ENISA, ENTSO-E, and national cyber/aviation/energy regulators working in sync
Crucially, resilience must become a procurement requirement, not an afterthought.
Conclusion: Europe’s New PNT Backbone Is Being Built
Russia’s electronic warfare campaign has made it clear: GNSS is not resilient by itself. But Europe is responding—with a layered, hybrid, and sovereign approach to PNT that blends old and new technologies.
What emerges over the next 5–10 years may be more robust, more decentralised, and better suited to the hybrid threats of the 21st century.
“In the Cold War, we hardened missile silos. In the digital age, we must harden time.”— UK National PNT Office briefing, 2025
