Avionics
Honeywell Tests Magnetic Navigation in GPS-free Flight
Embraer 170 flew from Seattle to Alaska and back without GPS
A Honeywell Aerospace flight-test jet parked on an airport ramp
Honeywell Aerospace flight-test aircraft supported the development of the MagNav quantum navigation system. The company’s Embraer E170 (not pictured here) flew more than four hours over the Pacific without GPS. © Defense Intelligence Agency

Honeywell Aerospace and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Pentagon’s commercial technology arm, have completed a flight test of a quantum-sensor-based navigation system. An Embraer 170 test aircraft, guided by the experimental navigation system, flew over the Pacific Ocean for 4 hours 23 minutes without GPS, DIU announced on September 4.

Flying under DIU’s MagNav magnetic navigation program, the airplane made a round trip from Everett Paine Field (KPAE) north of Seattle to the Gulf of Alaska. Without using satellites, the quantum-sensor system delivered position accuracy 89% better than conventional backup navigation would have achieved, DIU said.

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