Modern navigation still has a single point of failure – and it’s more fragile than most people realise.
When GPS drops out due to jamming, obstruction or simple unavailability, navigation becomes a serious vulnerability. That’s a growing problem for defence, space and undersea operations, where conventional sensors can also be thrown off by temperature shifts and radiation.
A South Australian team is working on a way around those limits. Researchers at Adelaide University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), partnering with Northrop Grumman Australia and local manufacturer Norseld, are developing hollow‑core optical fibres for next‑generation optical gyroscopes. Instead of sending light through glass, these fibres guide it through air, delivering far greater stability and precision in extreme environments.
The project has secured more than $499,000 in Round 2 of the Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite program, building on an earlier Defence Trailblazer–supported proof of concept. The funding will help move the technology from research toward a manufacturing‑ready product, strengthening Australia’s sovereign industrial capability.
That progress is enabled by ANFF‑OptoFab Adelaide, which provides the advanced glass and fibre fabrication capability needed to support manufacturing and testing. Its fabrication capability moves the technology closer to manufacture and real‑world use.
Read Defence Innovation Partnership’s full media release on the hollow‑core optical fibre project here.
Posted 19 February 2026