Northrop Grumman, SandboxAQ test quantum navigation on Lumberjack UAS

Northrop Grumman and SandboxAQ tested quantum-assisted navigation aboard the Lumberjack uncrewed aircraft to demonstrate positioning when satellite signals are unavailable or unreliable. The approach uses highly sensitive magnetic measurements and artificial-intelligence processing to compare observed features of Earth's magnetic field with reference data, providing an independent navigation input without transmitting an easily detected signal. Flight testing is an important integration milestone, but public results do not establish universal accuracy or operational readiness; performance can vary with maps, altitude, interference, sensor calibration and the quality of fusion with inertial and other onboard systems.