Northrop Grumman has collaborated with SandboxAQ to demonstrate quantum sensing magnetic navigation on Lumberjack, a Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system (UAS), just one month after establishing an objective to fly this capability on this type of platform.
Lumberjack is equipped with an electronic warfare suite, tactical data links and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance technology along with precision strike capabilities.
Adding magnetic navigation through quantum sensors allows Lumberjack to detect tiny variations in the Earth’s magnetic field to guide vehicles or aircraft even where GPS signals are unavailable or unreliable, according to Northrop Grumman.
The flight test demonstrated Lumberjack to be jam-proof as the quantum-based navigation system resisted jamming and operated reliably in GPS-denied environments, including over open water. The demonstration also proved Lumberjack can launch, fly and land multiple times for military training purposes making it recoverable.
The company has also claimed that the demonstration showcased the integration of Northrop Grumman mission kits with industry and partner solutions to enable customers to rapidly and affordably meet their mission requirements with Lumberjack’s versatile and modular design.
“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. Adding quantum sensing to an adaptable autonomous platform like Lumberjack advances mission capability in GPS-denied environments," Northrop Grumman, Lumberjack, program manager, Max Schuster, said.
Northrop Grumman has also said that Lumberjack, a one-way-attack drone, was designed and developed in under 14 months of its first flight and has performed a series of successful flights to add and test capabilities to the platform.
The most recent successful flight test included the vehicle, integrated mission kit, AI technology, SandboxAQ magnetic navigation and software-hardware solution provided by this cross-industry group.
Northrop Grumman is the mission systems integrator, munitions and systems provider of many of the technologies that enable the aircraft to sense, detect and deter threats in the battlespace. ESAero, a wholly owned subsidiary of AV, provides the Lumberjack air vehicle and its systems integration.