Q-CTRL’s navigation system for crewed aviation, Ironstone Opal, relies on quantum magnetic sensing.
Ironstone Opal is also offered in a magnetic navigation system tailored for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Ironstone Opal’s accelerated development to safety-of-flight qualification signifies that quantum navigation is ready for commercial aviation and UAV deployment
Following an ongoing set of challenging air trials, we’re proud to bring a commercial quantum-navigation backup to GPS that is ready for deployment and safety-of-flight qualified to DO-160 standards.”— Michael J. Biercuk, CEO and Founder of Q-CTRLOXFORD, OXFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, July 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Q-CTRL, a worldwide frontrunner in quantum infrastructure software, revealed today that it will be the sole quantum technology firm to showcase quantum navigation systems at the Farnborough International Airshow.
Q-CTRL stands as the first enterprise to openly verify and bring quantum navigation to market, after achieving real-world validation in aerial, ground, and maritime tests. Ironstone Opal earned a spot on TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 list and represents the initial quantum navigation system to earn safety-of-flight certification under the demanding RTCA DO-160 airworthiness criteria. First unveiled in April 2025, this accomplishment highlights the company’s rapid tempo in bringing commercial quantum technologies to worldwide markets while adhering to aviation industry standards.
The call for dependable GPS alternatives is growing more urgent. Ongoing electronic warfare and the widespread use of GPS jamming—evident in Ukraine and the Persian Gulf—have made it necessary to be operationally ready for GPS loss. However, the realities seen in active war zones have now spread into civilian life, where commercial aviation sees more than 1,500 daily flights interrupted by GPS interference. This situation has driven a combined directive from IATA and EASA identifying GPS interference as a major risk to flight safety, and has led prominent pilot groups to urge manufacturers and regulators to implement strong GPS backups.
Quantum navigation functions without depending on external satellite signals and is immune to jamming or spoofing, making it an essential element of any resilient GPS fallback system. Industry leaders in aerospace attending the Farnborough International Airshow are invited to the Q-CTRL booth to explore the company’s passive, small-form-factor quantum navigation systems for both crewed and uncrewed aircraft:
* Demonstrated drift-free positioning: Ironstone Opal delivers bounded positioning through magnetic map matching technology, powered by Q-CTRL’s proprietary quantum sensors.
* Commercial aviation readiness: Ironstone Opal is validated in flight to achieve the industry's required navigation performance (RNP 0.3) standard by maintaining a positioning accuracy better than 0.3 nautical miles through 95% of a flight, surpassing performance requirements for critical phases of commercial flight. The system is also ITAR-free for global deployment.
* Cross-platform deployment: Multiple compact form factors are available, including our new <1kg UAV variant, with sensors mountable in the vehicle body or on the wing of NATO class II+surveillance UAVs,
* Trusted capability: Discover Q-CTRL’s engagements with major commercial aircraft manufacturers, defense primes, and defense-sector collaborators, including the U.S. Department of War.
“Just over a year ago we transformed quantum technology from a lab curiosity into a real solution to one of the aviation sector’s most pressing problems – GPS denial,” said Q-CTRL CEO and Founder Michael J. Biercuk. “Now, following an ongoing set of challenging air trials across crewed airplanes, helicopters, and drones, we’re proud to bring to Farnborough a commercial quantum-navigation backup to GPS that is ready for deployment and safety-of-flight qualified to DO-160 standards. With the economic impact of widespread GPS denial estimated to cost £1 billion per day for the UK, the timing couldn’t be better for the aviation sector to have access to this critical technology.”
Visit Q-CTRL at booth #720 in Hall 0 at the Farnborough International Airshow to see a live demonstration of Ironstone Opal and to preview its new UAV-compatible system.
About Q-CTRL
Q-CTRL is the pioneer in AI-powered infrastructure software for quantum technology, offering a hardware-agnostic software platform that makes quantum machines thousands of times more powerful. This opens many parallel market verticals in computing, sensing, and health, making Q-CTRL a truly ubiquitous quantum company based on a single unique technology. It is the first company to achieve quantum advantage in both quantum computing and quantum sensing for navigation.
The company’s marquee product is an unjammable, unspoofable, undetectable quantum navigation system that works when GPS is unavailable, is 100 times better than the best alternative, and is being deployed on commercial aircraft with Airbus, in defense with Lockheed Martin, and on drones.
The company’s breakthroughs have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes, and led to Q-CTRL’s selection as one of the TIME100 ten most influential new-frontiers companies for 2026. Founded in 2017 by Professor Michael J. Biercuk, Q-CTRL operates globally from offices in Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Huntsville, Berlin, and Oxford.
Amanda Jones
Q-CTRL
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