SandboxAQ and Acubed, Airbus’ Silicon Valley innovation center, have announced results from a nationwide initiative to test the navigational accuracy of AQNav. AQNav is an AI-powered Magnetic Navigation (MagNav) system that utilizes quantum sensors, designed to provide aircraft positioning without relying on satellite signals. This initiative addresses challenges such as GNSS denial, jamming, and spoofing within the aviation industry.
AQNav employs advanced quantum magnetometers to read Earth’s crustal magnetic anomalies, and it uses Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) to filter out electromagnetic interference to determine an aircraft’s position. Testing involved a standard aircraft platform with sensors positioned internally, processing the magnetic signal via AQNav’s software. Flights covered diverse routes across the continental U.S., utilizing the publicly available North American Magnetic Anomaly Map (NAMAM), and accumulating over 150 hours of flight data. The system successfully filtered out aircraft interference and demonstrated accuracy, achieving less than 74 meters in a one-hour test over challenging terrain. AQNav also outperformed the Inertial Navigation System (INS) without GNSS during test flights exceeding two hours.
The testing campaign aimed to assess if magnetic anomaly-aided navigation could meet general commercial aircraft navigation requirements, demonstrating capabilities consistent with en route travel between airports. This initiative contributes to the development of GNSS-independent navigation solutions for military, commercial, and civilian aircraft operations. The accumulation of a relevant MagNav dataset is intended to improve model accuracy across diverse mission profiles. SandboxAQ has been developing AQNav with Acubed and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) since 2022, and the system was recently accepted into the 2025 NATO DIANA cohort.
Read the full announcement here.
July 16, 2025
