Cut off from GPS, Northrop Grumman’s Lumberjack drone turned to Earth’s magnetic field in a milestone navigation test conducted over land and open water.
The uncrewed aircraft used SandboxAQ’s AQNav magnetic navigation tech to translate subtle magnetic variations into positioning data without relying on satellite signals.
According to the company, the drone resisted jamming and completed multiple launches, flights, and landings, showing that it can support sustained operations under electronic attack.
In addition to the navigation tech, the drone carried an electronic warfare suite, tactical data links, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, and precision-strike capabilities.
“Lumberjack showcases not only ‘best-of-breed’ technology across industries, but our ability to integrate quickly has moved us from vision to operational reality in a rapid timeline,” said Max Schuster, program manager for Lumberjack at Northrop Grumman.
“Adding quantum sensing to an adaptable autonomous platform like Lumberjack advances mission capability in GPS-denied environments.”
Technological Backbone
Lumberjack is a low-cost, one-way attack drone with a gross weight of 290 pounds (131.5 kilograms). Without fuel or payload, it weighs 79 pounds (36 kilograms) for transport.
It measures 71 inches (180 centimeters) long, 14 inches (35.6 centimeters) wide, and 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) high. It can carry kinetic and non-kinetic payloads over tactically relevant ranges.
AQNav, meanwhile, is a software-defined navigation platform that compares magnetic-field readings collected during flight with known magnetic maps to estimate an aircraft’s position.
The passive system does not rely on satellites or other externally transmitted signals, making it difficult to jam or spoof.
Designed to work in all weather and across different terrain, AQNav can operate independently or complement inertial, visual, and satellite-based navigation systems.
Its software runs on existing onboard computing infrastructure with minimal latency, removing the need for additional processing hardware.
