Resilient Navigation Technologies Demonstrated at Army APEX

Resilient navigation is essential to the United States Army’s mission success in contested environments where enemy forces may actively jam, spoof or deny access to global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals.

Signal interference is an everyday challenge for today’s Army, which is field-testing emerging multi-sensor fusion technologies under simulated real-world conditions as part of the All-Domain Persistent Experiment (APEX). Honeywell Aerospace successfully demonstrated its resilient navigation portfolio for the Army in September 2025 during an APEX event at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

“Honeywell Aerospace products performed extremely well in the face of significant jamming and spoofing interference during a demanding series of flight tests,” said Matt Picchetti, Vice President and General Manager of Honeywell’s Navigation and Sensors business.

No Single Sensor Can Ensure Resilience

“The results reinforced the conclusion that no single sensor is enough to ensure resilient navigation in the 2020s and beyond,” Picchetti continued. “By fusing inertial navigation with GNSS when it’s available and alternative sensors when it’s not, Honeywell Aerospace demonstrated our ability to deliver the assured positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) data the Army needs to help units maneuver, synchronize and stay combat ready.”

Since the early 2020s, Honeywell Aerospace has been a leader in the practical adoption of M-Code, the Defense Department’s next-generation secure global positioning system. M-Code delivers greater anti-jamming protection and improved resistance to spoofing for the Army and other authorized users.

The Honeywell Aerospace EGI (EGI) —an embedded GPS/inertial navigation system (INS) is a game-changing development that was demonstrated at the 2025 APEX. During several flight runs, the Honeywell EGI reliably tracked GPS satellites, even while the test aircraft flew through highly jammed and spoofed airspace. 

The flights validated that the Honeywell Aerospace EGI, along with a Trimble-designed M-Code receiver, provides proven capability, enabling warfighters to operate successfully in the most challenging GPS denied environments. 

Honeywell Aerospace Systems Engineer Leah Powell flew along on the test flights. “It was exciting to be onboard as we helped the Army test these capabilities that our nation will depend upon,” she said. “I’m extremely proud of the work we’re doing to make a difference in our world.”

Army Sees Honeywell Alternative Navigation in Action

Alternative navigation technologies complement EGI's inherent robustness and enable military operations even under severe jamming and spoofing conditions. Inertial navigation systems do an exceptional job of determining the position, velocity and attitude of an aircraft, but the INS requires a second, independent data source to maintain accuracy and precision over an extended period.

Honeywell Aerospace recently launched HANA – the Honeywell Alternative Navigation Architecture software offering – to provide military and civilian operators with superior multi-modal navigation capabilities. 

Honeywell exposed Army officials to three of the most prominent HANA navigation technologies at the APEX event: vision-aided navigation, magnetic anomaly navigation and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite navigation. Each of the HANA technologies provided highly accurate data to onboard navigation systems, enabling resilient navigation throughout the test regime. 

• Vision-aided navigation (VAN) uses onboard cameras to observe the surrounding environment and detect visual features the system can track, such as landmarks, structures and runways. The VAN software compares live camera images with stored maps and uses visual odometry to analyze sequential images and estimate motion, velocity, attitude and relative position. 
• Magnetic anomaly–aided navigation utilizes subtle variations in Earth’s magnetic field as a natural reference map. By comparing real-time magnetic measurements to known magnetic signatures, navigation systems can estimate aircraft position. Magnetic anomaly–aided navigation provides a passive, globally-available aiding source that complements the INS, particularly over land and maritime environments.
• Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite navigation receives signals from low-altitude satellite constellations that are typically stronger and more difficult to jam than traditional GNSS signals. These LEO-based signals can serve as an additional ranging and timing source, helping sustain navigation performance when conventional satellites are degraded or unavailable.

Honeywell Aerospace also used APEX 2025 to test and demonstrate the LASEREF VI Micro Inertial Reference System (IRS) with algorithms able to detect and mitigate GNSS interference. LASEREF VI addresses a significant uptick in jamming and spoofing experienced by civilian aircraft flying near conflicted airspace, including the Ukraine and Israeli theaters. LASEREF VI delivered excellent results and was able to detect jamming before signals were lost. 

“Resilient navigation is an unshakeable requirement for both military and civilian operations going forward,” Picchetti concluded. “The suite of navigation products successfully tested at the Army 2025 APEX event demonstrates how far we have come in developing the navigation capabilities that will help shape the future of flight.”

For more information, contact your Honeywell Aerospace representative or visit us online.