Anello Photonics and Q-CTRL have entered a strategic partnership to develop resilient navigation solutions for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in environments where GPS is degraded or unavailable.
The collaboration focuses on integrating Anello’s Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope (SiPhOG) technology with Q-CTRL’s Ironstone Opal quantum magnetic navigation capabilities. This integration creates a multi-layered quantum navigation solution (QNS) designed to provide continuous, bounded positioning estimates that do not degrade over the course of a mission. By combining silicon photonics-based inertial sensing with quantum-powered magnetic map matching, the companies aim to provide a critical backup to GNSS.
Reliability in satellite navigation has become a significant concern across both defense and commercial sectors. Vulnerabilities such as jamming and spoofing pose a documented $1B daily threat in the United States, impacting logistics, transport, and military operations. Recent disruptions in the Persian Gulf have further highlighted the challenges faced by maritime and aerial platforms when GNSS signals are compromised.
The initiative represents the first time these two specific technological approaches have been integrated to scale quantum navigation solutions. As electronic warfare evolves and the use of autonomous systems expands, the ability to operate without a constant GPS signal is becoming a standard requirement for next-generation mobility and mission-critical platforms.
A software-ruggedized quantum navigation system was chosen as one of The Best Inventions of 2025 by TIME magazine.
Ironstone Opal by Q-CTRL has been field-validated in air, land and maritime trials. It provides a solution to GPS denial, which has become an increasing danger in conflict zones and recently threatened a plane carrying European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Q-CTRL is based in Sydney, Australia.
Ironstone Opal leverages quantum sensors – stabilized using software – to provide navigation immune to the kinds of interference plaguing commercial aviation, shipping and defense operations.
In airborne trials, Ironstone Opal enabled GPS-free navigation with an accuracy up to 111 times better than the best conventional GPS alternative, even under highly dynamic maneuvers. It delivered GPS-like positioning accuracy down to just 4 meters over flights up to 700 kilometers long.
Most recently, Ironstone Opal operated continuously for more than 144 hours on an Australian Navy vessel, the MV Sycamore, trialling gravimetric navigation capabilities.
“In today’s sophisticated threat environment — marked by jamming, GPS denial, and spoofing — quantum sensing offers a strategic advantage delivering resilient and precise capabilities where traditional systems fall short,” said Jonathan Green, Chief Technology Officer, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. “As a leader in quantum technology, Northrop Grumman supports innovators like Q-CTRL in advancing the quantum industry to enhance national security through cutting edge innovation.”
Each year, TIME recognizes 300 products, software and services that are changing the world, including scientific or technological breakthroughs and innovations that make life easier and more sustainable. Ironstone Opal was identified through research from TIME’s global network of reporters and expert contributors based on key evaluation factors like originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.
The Key to Ironstone Opal
Ironstone Opal’s quantum sensors detect tiny, otherwise imperceptible signals from Earth’s structure that serve as gravimetric or magnetic “landmarks” for navigation, which are then compared with geophysical maps for precise positioning. Q-CTRL’s proprietary software-ruggedization hardens these quantum sensors for operation in the real world, allowing resilient performance in demanding environments.
The system can function as a robust backup for GPS on both crewed and uncrewed defense platforms, as well as in commercial settings. More than 1,000 commercial flights per day are affected by GPS denial, and many key players in the aerospace industry, including Airbus, are looking into quantum-assured navigation technologies as a solution.
TIME’s recognition of Ironstone Opal follows August’s news that DARPA awarded Q-CTRL two contracts totalling $24.4 million USD to develop quantum sensors for navigation on defense platforms. Also, in March, the Department of Defense’s Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin and Q-CTRL to develop a quantum-enabled inertial navigation system.
DARPA selects Q-CTRL to develop next-gen sensors for advanced defense platforms.
Quantum software company Q-CTRL has been awarded two contracts under DARPA’s Robust Quantum Sensors (RoQS) program. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an independent research and development agency within the U.S. Department of Defense.
The contracts, valued at $24.4 million, will augment Q-CTRL’s field-validated quantum sensing technologies for demanding real-world use cases in high-performance military vehicles.
Navigational technology that is resilient to denial, jamming, spoofing and other denials in the environment has become increasingly critical to defense applications, from battlefield operations to intelligence and surveillance. With conflict zones expanding, the risks to crewed and uncrewed defense missions are growing daily. Quantum sensing offers a complementary solution to GPS that is resilient against external interference while filling coverage gaps.
Quantum sensing offers a complementary solution to GPS that is resilient against external interference while filling coverage gaps.
Q-CTRL will develop next-generation quantum sensors for navigation based on their success in field trials of airborne, maritime, and ground-based quantum navigation augmented by their proprietary AI-powered software ruggedization. The technology enables sensors to operate reliably on moving defense platforms subject to challenging real-world conditions, without the need for traditional shielding or isolation.
Q-CTRL will be joined by Lockheed Martin as a subcontractor on one aspect of the RoQS program, leveraging its expertise in GPS and quantum technology.
DARPA established RoQS to accelerate the development, testing and validation of quantum sensors for real-world defense applications, which include maintaining stability against environmental interference, mechanical vibrations and heavy g-forces.
Some sectors and organizations are fast-maturing quantum navigation for use on land, sea, in space, and in the air. The aerospace industry is actively exploring the potential for magnetic navigation technologies, with companies like aircraft manufacturer Airbus pursuing their development.
Additionally, Q-CTRL’s programs target the complementary missions of geophysical mapping of gravity and magnetic fields, as well as positioning based on matching detected signals to the pre-generated maps. This approach provides huge advantages in navigational missions and delivers new insights into minerals prospecting and underground target detection.
Ironstone Opal, the company’s quantum-assured navigation system, recently outperformed a high-end inertial navigation system (INS) in flight for the first time, achieving up to 111x greater positioning accuracy when GPS was unavailable – a significant step forward for real-world applications of quantum sensing to defense missions. In these tests, the company’s proprietary AI-driven, software-level innovation was the key to the removal of platform interference.
Ironstone Opal’s navigation system was also recently validated in maritime trials on board the Royal Australian Naval vessel, MV Sycamore.
In March, Lockheed Martin and Q-CTRL were awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Innovation Unit to prototype a quantum-enabled inertial navigation system.
Q-CTRL has completed a major field trial with Australian Defence on board the Royal Australian Navy’s Multi-role Aviation Training Vessel (MATV), the MV Sycamore. The results of the trial demonstrated advancements in software-ruggedized quantum sensing for navigation.
In the trials, Q-CTRL field deployed a quantum dual gravimeter, which measures tiny variations in Earth’s gravity as part of a next-generation quantum-assured positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system operable when GPS is unavailable or untrusted.
This first trial saw over 144 hours of continuous operation and successful data collection with no human intervention during real maritime operations.
“Quantum sensors provide a near-term opportunity to achieve transformational defense capabilities, but previous deployments in the field have struggled to deliver defense-relevant performance,” said Q-CTRL CEO and founder Michael J. Biercuk. “Operating on a real moving vehicle is just not the same as conducting a science experiment; at Q-CTRL, we’ve taken a different approach to getting quantum sensors out of the lab, focusing on software as the critical enabler of performance in the real world.”
Earlier this year, Q-CTRL announced successful airborne field trials of a new generation of quantum-magnetic navigation solutions, Ironstone Opal, validated for the first time to outperform comparable conventional alternatives in challenging real-world settings by 50 times.
Developed and fielded in 14 months, the dual gravimeter was installed in a “strapdown” configuration (bolted to the floor) in the space of a single server rack in a communications room onboard MV Sycamore. The sensor consumed only 180W of power – about 10 times less than a household toaster.(Photo: Q-CTRL)
The newly announced trials of Q-CTRL’s gravimetric navigation technology open opportunities to bring quantum-assured navigation to maritime vessels where magnetic navigation can be less effective.
GPS denial has become one of the most pressing strategic challenges in both defense and commercial settings, risking major disruptions to civilian and military operations. Quantum navigation promises a robust and reliable GPS backup that cannot be jammed or spoofed.
Q-CTRL’s navigation capability is urgently needed in contested maritime environments, as instances of spoofed signals caused significant disruptions to ships in the Middle East waterways as recently as June 23. This causes not only critical logistical issues but disrupts collision avoidance efforts, revealing major safety implications.
In quantum gravimetric navigation, the quantum gravimeter continuously “sees” the otherwise invisible hills and valleys in Earth’s gravity, allowing a navigation computer to compare its observations against known gravity maps. This is similar to orienteering, where one can position oneself on a map by identifying landmarks like valleys, mountains, rivers, or roads. GPS is not needed, making it a robust backup in contested regions.
Q-CTRL’s demonstration with the Royal Australian Navy departs from most previous quantum sensing field trials in that these tests mandated peak performance with full autonomy and without the addition of any special infrastructure. The sensor had to operate as a real navigation system would operate during a defense mission.
The ship’s motion and engine vibrations were sufficient to cause total loss of signal using conventional operating techniques typically employed in research experiments. To address these losses, Q-CTRL’s software-ruggedization strategies recovered operation even while MV Sycamore was underway.
Quantum sensing leverages the physics of light and matter on the smallest scales to enable the detection of tiny signals. Because these devices work based on the fundamental laws of physics and are not affected by drift like other GPS alternatives, their outputs do not change over time, enabling new opportunities where long-term stability is essential. Generally, however, these devices are significantly degraded when taken from a research laboratory into the real world, an issue addressed by Q-CTRL’s software-ruggedization technology.
For more on Q-CTRL’s software-ruggedized quantum sensing technology, read their peer-reviewed technical demonstration published in Nature.
