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Session E9: PNT for Autonomous Systems

CompassX GPS-Free Flight: From Launch to the Last Tactical Mile
Don Venable, Mike Veth, Benjamin Deming, AEVEX; Tom Pollard, Michael Braun, Tim Anderson, STR; Mark Smearcheck, Air Force Research Lab
Location: Ballroom B
Date/Time: Wednesday, Jun. 3, 8:35 a.m.

Resilient navigation in GNSS-degraded and denied environments remains a critical challenge for tactical air systems operating across the full mission lifecycle—from launch through terminal guidance. This presentation introduces AEVEX’s CompassX platform, an integrated navigation hardware and software stack designed to enable end-to-end GPS-free flight for air platforms operating in contested environments. The CompassX stack was developed with sponsorship from both the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL/RYWN) and AEVEX internal research and development.
The CompassX combines tightly coupled inertial sensing, vision-aided navigation, on-board dead-reckoning sensors, and probabilistic geospatial reasoning to provide robust PNT performance without reliance on GNSS. We will present recent developments enabling GPS-free launch, robust mid-flight visual navigation including advances in wide-area search, and visual terminal guidance across multiple operationally relevant flight regimes. The system leverages onboard sensing and mission-aware inference to localize against pre-existing, high resolution/high cadence geospatial data, enabling sustained navigation accuracy over extended durations without external position updates. The system also utilizes a state of the art, cross modality visual terminal guidance capability for precise end-game capability.
The talk will highlight results from multiple flight tests, including demonstrations conducted during GPS contested scenarios, showing navigation performance under active GNSS degradation for 4+hours on AEVEXs long-range strike platforms. Emphasis will be placed on observed accuracy, robustness to environmental variability, and lessons learned throughout the full flight profile. We will also discuss architectural considerations for deploying complementary PNT solutions on size, weight, and power-constrained platforms, as well as pathways for integration with existing guidance and mission systems.
This work demonstrates a practical, flight-validated approach to resilient PNT that complements traditional GNSS/INS and supports future concepts for autonomous and collaborative operations in contested electromagnetic environments.

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