Family of Special Operations Vehicles (FOSOV)

Obtaining reliable, secure, and real-time positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) is absolutely crucial in SOCOM's efforts to address increasing attack vectors and information gaps in the Team Awareness Kit (TAK). With the growing prevalence of automated ground vehicles in the commercial field, the need for accurate positioning with lane-level precision (sub-30 cm) has become more critical than ever. While research on automated ground vehicles (AGVs) mainly focuses on the use of sensors like LIDAR and cameras for navigation, it's important to note that these sensors tend to fail in low light or adverse weather conditions such as heavy fog or snowy white-out. Therefore, it's imperative to use positioning techniques based on radio waves, like automotive radar or GNSS, due to their unparalleled ability to function in all weather conditions. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) will no doubt play a significant role in SOCOM’s PNT needs as it is the only positioning system that offers absolutely referenced meter-level global accuracy. If GNSS can be further strengthened against purposeful deception, precise (carrier-phase-based) GNSS, coupled with low-cost inertial sensing, can significantly aid SOCOM in fulfilling its needs for position, velocity, and timing (PVT). Locus Lock presents a solution that employs a "defense in depth" strategy, similar to information security, which involves implementing multiple layers of security checkpoints throughout the system to ensure overall security, even in the event that some layers are breached. This concept will be key in addressing SOCOM’s navigation and TAK integration needs. In applications requiring safety-of-life navigation, multiple interoperable but wholly independent sensors is an essential defense against deliberate and natural interference.