Northrop, SandboxAQ test magnetic navigation on Lumberjack drone

Northrop Grumman and SandboxAQ have flown magnetic navigation equipment on the Lumberjack uncrewed aircraft system. The aircraft is a Group 3 design, which the companies called an attritable platform.

The trial took place during the summer, according to the two companies, and was flown in conditions without GPS signals. The aim was to show that an autonomous aircraft can continue its mission when satellite positioning is lost or cannot be trusted.

For the test, SandboxAQ's AQNav system was installed on the Lumberjack. It measures variations in Earth's magnetic field to determine an aircraft's position, and the company says it relies on neither GPS, satellite constellations nor ground-based infrastructure. SandboxAQ called the event the first reported trial of a magnetic navigation system on an attritable platform. It said the system had also been paired with a visual navigation system on an attritable one-way-attack platform for the first time.

The companies framed the work around a battlefield problem: GPS interference is becoming a regular condition, leaving military aircraft and uncrewed systems without a reliable position fix. A drone that loses satellite navigation needs another accurate source of positioning to keep going. Magnetic navigation is one way to fill that gap.

The announcement did not give the test's duration, location or accuracy.