SandboxAQ completed the world’s first flight test of its AQNav magnetic navigation system on September 9, 2026, aboard Northrop Grumman’s Lumberjack attritable unmanned aircraft system, a one-way attack drone designed for contested environments where GPS cannot be relied upon. The system uses quantum sensors and AI algorithms to read Earth’s magnetic anomalies and cross-reference them against a pre-existing map, enabling precise positioning without satellite signals. The test addresses a critical vulnerability in modern military operations, where GPS jamming or spoofing can render sophisticated drones useless. The technology has met Required Navigation Performance standards and outperformed traditional inertial navigation systems, which drift over time. SandboxAQ, a spinout from Alphabet (Google’s parent company), has accumulated over 200 flight hours and 40 sorties since its first evaluations in 2023.
Source: Read the original article
