An American coup against Russia. A rush to bid farewell to the GPS navigation system
Following the accident involving the European Commission President, whose plane had to use paper maps due to a GPS outage in Russia, Boeing has now begun testing a technological alternative.
In times of war, GPS becomes useless. This is one of the conclusions that can already be drawn from the invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, all major powers are seeking alternatives. One of the most prominent is quantum navigation, which Boeing has been successfully testing for months.
Modern aviation uses GPS for navigation because it covers the entire planet. It's very useful for commercial aviation, but it becomes useless during wartime, as both sides block it to prevent military drones from identifying targets.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) determines the precise location of any place or object, even if it is moving, using four satellites. Three of them calculate latitude and longitude using triangulation, and the fourth calculates altitude. It is a relatively accurate system, within a few meters.
Jamming GPS is very simple: all you need to do is generate strong interference that silences or blocks the signal. Because it is a radio signal, this can be done from hundreds of kilometers away. That's what Russia did last weekend to disrupt the GPS on board Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, as she traveled to Bulgaria.
That's why different countries are testing alternative systems to GPS for navigation, from quantum magnetometers to 4G connectivity, which Russia itself has already used.
But the most advanced seems to be quantum navigation, which uses atoms to calculate the direction of movement, and thus the position relative to the starting point.
The major advantage of quantum navigation is that it is virtually impossible for an adversary to intercept because it emits no waves. It also doesn't require satellites. Furthermore, unlike GPS, which has an accuracy of meters, this new system, already being tested by Boeing, is extremely accurate.
How does quantum navigation work? It uses a six-axis quantum inertial measurement unit (IMU), which you can see in this image:
This inertial measurement unit integrates three quantitative inertial sensors, each measuring the accelerations and rotations of one axis of the aircraft—that is, the direction in which it is traveling.
The inertial measurement unit uses a quantum sensing technique called atom interferometry to detect rotation and acceleration using atoms, providing accuracy and precision.
Simply put, the inertial measurement unit detects how a change in direction affects the rotation and acceleration of the atoms, and based on these changes, it can calculate the direction the plane has taken.
Boeing completed its tests in St. Louis, USA, by installing an inertial measurement unit (IMU) on a Beechcraft 1900D. The aircraft flew for several kilometers, precisely guiding itself using quantum navigation instead of GPS.
Boeing is now testing the aircraft's performance in complex situations, such as when the aircraft is rotating in a circular path or flying in a zigzag path. If these tests pass, it will be ready for installation as a replacement for GPS.
It is said that the most rapid development of technology is war, or the space race, and here we have conclusive proof.