Towards Resilient PNT: Developing and Testing the Riptide Black Sea Demonstrator

Florin Mistrapau, Roxana Mihaela Clopot, Vladimir Kosjer, Calin Gabriel Ciobanu, Michael Turner, Alex Owens, Vlad Gabriel Olteanu, Raluca-Ana-Maria Prefac, Petrica Popov, Lucian Dutu, Dumitru Andrescu, Irina-Beatrice Stefanescu, Mirela-Madalina Bivolaru, Gianluca Caparra

Abstract:	Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) information is a critical part of maritime navigation, ensuring the safety and security of both Safety-Of-Life At Sea (SOLAS) and non-SOLAS vessels. GNSS has become the primary source of PNT data in the maritime domain, expected to meet user requirements in terms of accuracy, integrity, reliability, and system redundancy. However, GNSS is inherently vulnerable to interference, which can lead to the loss of positioning information or even to the provision of false positioning data, posing significant risks to maritime operations. In recent years, concerns over the impact of radio frequency interference (RFI) on GNSS-based navigation have grown exponentially, particularly regarding intentional RFI. This increasing concern is well justified, given the rising frequency of interference events and the declining costs of jamming and spoofing technology. The accessibility of versatile hardware and online resources, including open-source code and tutorials, has further facilitated the proliferation of such threats. Needless to say, the advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and openly available Large Language Models (LLMs) are further increasing the accessibility of tools for generating intentional RFI, thereby increasing the need for robust and resilient PNT solutions. The paper will present the implementation and testing of a proposed solution, with a particular focus on the results of the Black Sea trials. The analysis of these results will demonstrate the viability of the solution offering a comprehensive understanding of its achievable performance in both nominal and non-nominal conditions, as well as the next steps towards a future operational system. RIPTIDE advances the concept of resilient PNT, bringing it closer to end users in the Black Sea and Lower Danube basin region. By leveraging an innovative Monitor and Protect approach. The solution integrates multiple technologies such as GNSS interference monitoring, AIS ASM and VDES-R /R-Mode. As it will be shown in the paper, RIPTIDE Phase 2 demonstrates an innovative approach to developing a resilient PNT system tailored to civil maritime applications in the Black Sea and Danube region, all while maximizing the use of existing infrastructure.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025) September 8 - 12, 2025 Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland
Pages:	45 - 59
Cite this article:	Mistrapau, Florin, Clopot, Roxana Mihaela, Kosjer, Vladimir, Ciobanu, Calin Gabriel, Turner, Michael, Owens, Alex, Olteanu, Vlad Gabriel, Prefac, Raluca-Ana-Maria, Popov, Petrica, Dutu, Lucian, Andrescu, Dumitru, Stefanescu, Irina-Beatrice, Bivolaru, Mirela-Madalina, Caparra, Gianluca, "Towards Resilient PNT: Developing and Testing the Riptide Black Sea Demonstrator," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 45-59. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20225
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