Thales and Syrlinks will develop next-generation personal watches for public and defense applications. Thales and Syrlinks, a French company based in Rennes, Brittany, have signed a multi-year contract for a project with the French Defense Procurement Service (DGA) that aims to develop a new generation of ultra-small high-performance atomic clocks.
Code named CHRONOS, these new quantum watches will meet the requirements of many civil and military applications. Thanks to their very high stability (error of less than one second per tens of thousands of years), defense electronic equipment will be able to operate when the GNSS signal (GPS, Galileo, etc.) is not available, due to possible hostile engagement for example.
Using France’s technological superiority in positioning that is not possible through GNSS, guidance, navigation and encrypted military communications protected by electronic countermeasures and in public applications for citizens (5G network synchronization, transport, energy, etc. etc.), CHRONOS quantum watches will offer an unprecedented value for money to both French and international customers.
Large sections of the modern economy now rely on satellite synchronization, and all the world’s great powers have their own satellite arrays for the GNSS system (such as Europe’s Galileo system) to ensure their independence and protect their national sovereignty.
GNSS technology provides accurate time reporting for critical infrastructure such as 4G / 5G networks, internet, air and rail, power grids, global banking, frequent trading, satellites, etc. . , infrastructure that would be switched off quickly if the signal were not available. Due to the high degree of dependence on these infrastructures, backup systems are required to ensure that our public and military infrastructures can continue to function even if the GNSS timing signal is not available.
SYRLINKS, based in Rennes, Brittany, specializes in satellite radio communications, radio navigation systems and tiny atomic clocks, and its products were selected to equip 650 satellites for the American company OneWeb. The company will develop the electronic control unit of the CHRONOS watch and will ensure the operation of high-precision timing.
The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) will provide significant scientific support for the project through its research units SYRTE (Paris Observatory) and Femto-ST (University of France-Conte).
