Honeywell Aerospace and the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit have tested a magnetic navigation system on an Embraer 170 in a GPS-free flight over the Pacific, with the aircraft flying from the Seattle area to southern Alaska and back. The trial ran for more than four hours and the system delivered navigation data to pilots on standard tablets while improving position accuracy by 89% versus traditional backup methods.
The test formed part of the DIU’s quantum sensing programme, which is aimed at building GPS-independent navigation for environments where satellite signals are jammed, spoofed or unavailable. Open ocean was used to remove visual references and push the system into a more demanding operational setting. Honeywell was selected from 72 applicants for the programme, and a follow-on demonstration on a U.S. military C-17 is planned later in 2026.
The result adds to a wider effort to create a resilient backup for civil and military aviation, especially on long-haul oceanic routes and in contested airspace. MagNav uses the Earth’s magnetic field for positioning, offering a potential alternative to satellite-dependent navigation if it can be validated in regular operations.