Resilient Navigation Technologies Demonstrated at Army APEX

Resilient navigation is essential to the United States Army’s mission success in contested environments where adversaries 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 led the practical adoption of M Code, the Department of Defense’s next generation secure GPS signal. M Code provides enhanced anti jamming protection and improved resistance to spoofing for authorized military users.

The Honeywell Aerospace Embedded GPS/INS (EGI)—also known as EAGLE M—is a game changing development demonstrated during the 2025 APEX event. Across multiple flight runs, EAGLE M reliably tracked GPS satellites even as test aircraft flew through highly jammed and spoofed airspace.

These flights validated that the Honeywell Aerospace EGI, combined with a Trimble designed M Code receiver, enables warfighters to operate successfully in the most challenging GPS denied environments. 

Honeywell Aerospace systems engineer Leah Powell flew onboard during the test flights. “It was exciting to be part of testing capabilities our nation will depend on,” she said. “I’m extremely proud of the work we’re doing to make a difference.”

Army Sees Honeywell Alternative Navigation in Action

Alternative navigation technologies complement EGI’s inherent robustness and enable military operations under severe jamming and spoofing conditions. While inertial navigation systems excel at determining position, velocity, and attitude, they require independent aiding sources to maintain accuracy over time.

Honeywell Aerospace recently launched the Honeywell Alternative Navigation Architecture (HANA), a software offering that provides military and civilian operators with advanced multi modal navigation capabilities.

At the APEX event, Honeywell demonstrated three HANA navigation technologies: vision aided navigation, magnetic anomaly aided navigation, and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite navigation. Each provided highly accurate data to onboard navigation systems, enabling resilient navigation throughout the test regime.

Vision aided navigation uses onboard cameras and stored maps to track visual features such as landmarks, runways, and structures, estimating motion, velocity, attitude, and relative position.

Magnetic anomaly aided navigation leverages subtle variations in Earth’s magnetic field as a passive, globally available reference source, particularly effective over land and maritime environments.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite navigation uses stronger, low altitude satellite signals that are more difficult to jam than traditional GNSS signals, sustaining navigation performance when conventional systems are degraded.

“Resilient navigation is an unshakable requirement for both military and civilian operations,” Picchetti concluded. “The technologies demonstrated at Army APEX show how far we’ve come—and how we’re helping shape the future of flight.”

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