(Sifted.EU) Lockheed Martin, the US defense contractor and Europe’s Element Six, the synthetic diamond-producing arm of diamond company De Beers, are working on a navigation technology that would be perfect for covert operations because it is untrackable.
They have created a prototype device — a quantum magnetometer about the size of a large shoebox — that uses synthetic diamonds engineered to have quantum properties to measure the direction and strength of tiny, almost imperceptible anomalies in the Earth’s magnetic field. Combine this with a magnetic field map and you can pinpoint your location on the planet down to the closest — in theory — 50 metres or so.
It is not as precise as GPS, which has an accuracy of a few metres. But it can work in conditions where GPS cannot — underwater and underground. Or when users want to ensure they aren’t tracked or want to make assure navigation devices aren’t being jammed or interfered with.