Spanish AIRSENSE Navigation Lets Army Drone Find Its Way Without GPS Over Land

A European Defence Agency-funded AIRSENSE navigation system developed by Spain's GMV and Indra demonstrated satellite-independent positioning aboard a Spanish Army fixed-wing drone during September 2026 trials at REPMUS in Portugal. The aircraft flew more than 100 kilometers from its control station and reached an altitude of 2,100 meters while processing image-based navigation data onboard in real time. The four-year, €1.2 million USESXI project seeks resilient positioning when GNSS signals are jammed, degraded or unavailable. Trials showed reliable performance over land but reduced effectiveness over water, making this a successful experimental demonstration rather than a universally validated navigation capability.