Portable Atomic Clock commendation

The Portable Atomic Clocks team led by Professor Andre Luiten received a commendation from the Chief Defence Scientist Tanya Monro for their exceptional performance at the Alternative Position, Navigation and Timing (APNT) challenge event. The event was part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises organised by the TTCP Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance – ISTAR - group.

The best quantum technologies from around the globe were installed within a single shipping container during this exercise. This was the first demonstration of optical atomic clocks at sea. The University of Adelaide’s clocks demonstrated a performance that was up to 100 times superior to the current gold standard for time-keeping at sea. The Adelaide team's clocks operated completely autonomously for three weeks and were at the top of the performance chain of all clocks included in the exercise.