Quantum Navigation: Test-ready technology within Boeing solves the problem of spoofing and blocking GPS navigation systems.
Global Positioning System (GPS), familiar in the role of helping consumers find new restaurants across town, is also vital for enabling pilots to navigate worldwide in commercial and defense flights. GPS is satellite-based — highly accurate and valuable. However, in the case of military aircraft in defense applications in the Middle East or Ukraine, bad actors can jam the navigational signals, rendering them ineffective. They can also spoof the navigation, causing misguided directions. Misrouted navigation is naturally of deep concern to military and commercial pilots and all tracking support staff, from ground control to nearby flights. Boeing’s Disruptive Computing, Networks and Sensors (DC&N) organization aims to fix this navigational gap, starting with the U.S. military and continuing with commercial flights.
The quantum navigation system addresses potential service disruptions that can arise with current GPS or other navigational systems. Its accuracy would enable aircraft on most commercial airplane routes to navigate without GPS for the entirety of the flight.
John (Jay) Lowell, Ph.D., principal senior technical fellow at Boeing, serves as the department’s chief engineer. In August 2024, Boeing said the team conducted a test using the six-axis quantum inertial measurement unit, or IMU. “The six-axis quantum IMU was integrated into a full inertial navigation system and deployed on a Beechcraft 1900D for a series of flight tests.” The test lasted four hours from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri. The outcome was that the quantum sensors could operate successfully through takeoff, landing, and multiple maneuvers, Boeing reported.
Lowell, who has been with Boeing since 2012, was instrumental in this project and has worked on quantum physics in some form for most of his career. He is a distinguished graduate with honors from the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds a Master of Science degree in physics from Ohio State University. He also has a Doctor of Science in atomic physics from the University of Virginia.
He is passionate about this topic and has dedicated his life to new technologies like atomic navigation. “Lowell is an internationally recognized expert in systems engineering of quantum, electromagnetic, and electro-optic systems.” (Boeing Executive Biography, August 2024)
What is it, and why does it matter?
In August 2024, Boeing completed a test flight using quantum navigation with a Beechcraft 1900. It was the department’s first test of the quantum navigational system with partner AOSense of Fremont, California. Their tagline is “Bringing atom-optic quantum science to the world” (www.aosense.com). Their research team has turned innovative physics research into inertial sensor hardware while partnering on the flight test system integration.
Lowell said the Beechcraft 1900 is a good test choice because it is part of Boeing’s test fleet, is “relatively inexpensive, and has good access to and control of the environment.” He said it is a convenient aircraft for the test, but “We will likely move through different types of aircraft – we’ll try it out on commercial, military cargo aircraft, and eventually fighter aircraft (which are more tightly constrained) in later flight tests.”
He added, “Every airplane, commercial or otherwise, has an inertial navigation system. That inertial navigation system starts out okay but gets worse over time left to its own devices because it accumulates calculation errors; every error keeps adding up.” He said errors lead to drift and pilot location confusion, and the extent of that drift gets worse with time. “My error starts out being so many millimeters from where it is. But it gets bigger and bigger.” He said every airplane drifts about one nautical mile an hour, meaning you can be several miles from where you think you need to be by the end of a flight. He said definitively, “Inertial systems are not good enough. This is why we use GPS on aircraft – GPS corrects inertial errors, so they do fine when GPS is available.”
However, as noted, it is risky to depend solely on GPS for accurate navigation. In war zones in Europe and the Middle East, people deploy GPS jammers that can be dangerous for commercial or defense flights. Outages can be incredibly dangerous.
He said developing a quantum navigation system will make navigation more accurate. “Instead of going across the country and being several miles away from the runway when you need to land, you’re still within the width of a typical runway if you need to come in for a landing; that’s if you have no GPS.”
He shared that a fully-developed system would increase safety and be self-contained and reliable.
Where will it be tested?
They will test quantum navigation with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Air Force, and Navy. Lowell said they value quantum navigation’s performance ability and want to implement it as soon as possible. DC&N’s partner AOSense is creating componentry and hardware for the inertial sensors and collaborating on the program’s physics.
When will this technology be available to commercial aircraft?
Lowell said determining how to manufacture the product will bring them to commercial applications, likely following military testing. They will have to scale it to make sense for a commercial customer. He said it may take a few years to produce prototypes and test the navigational systems. Further, he said they will eventually need a supply chain to manufacture the product.
In summary
There has been a wealth of development in solving the problem of navigational flaws in aviation. Boeing, teamed with AOSense, is bringing next-generation technology to the forefront of defense and commercial aviation.
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How does quantum navigation work?
The IMU uses atom interferometry, a quantum sensing technique, to detect rotation and acceleration using atoms, resulting in unparalleled navigational accuracy and precision without a GPS reference.
For more information: Boeing completes world’s 1st quantum navigation flight test – Boeing
