Magnetic Navigation Breakthrough Takes Flight
A new navigation system is being tested by Honeywell Aerospace, one that uses Earth's magnetic field to determine an aircraft's position.
The MagNav system was developed through the Defense Innovation Unit's (DIU) quantum sensing program and recently completed a 4 hour, 23 minute test flight from Seattle's Puget Sound to southern Alaska and back without using GPS.
The Embraer 170 aircraft successfully navigated open water using highly sensitive sensors that detect variations in Earth's magnetic field and match them against magnetic signatures within the planet's crust.
This approach is particularly valuable over oceans, where pilots have few visual references and conventional navigation systems can accumulate errors over time. MagNav improved position accuracy by 89% compared with traditional backup navigation methods, with navigation information delivered to pilots in real-time through standard tablets.