NATO has selected SandboxAQ as one of approximately 70 companies to participate in the 2025 Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) cohort. The selection process involved more than 2,600 submissions from 32 NATO countries. DIANA, established by NATO in 2023, aims to address complex societal challenges by bringing together innovative companies developing dual-use technologies for both commercial and defense applications.

SandboxAQ will join the cohort’s Sensing & Surveillance group, focusing on the development of its AQNav magnetic navigation system. AQNav is designed to provide a secure navigation alternative that does not rely on GNSS, making it resilient against jamming and spoofing. The system utilizes SandboxAQ’s proprietary Large Quantitative Models (LQMs), quantum sensors, and the Earth’s crustal magnetic field to offer an all-weather, day and night, terrain-agnostic navigation solution for military and commercial applications.

The AQNav system has undergone extensive testing, including more than 200 hours of flight tests with the U.S. Air Force, involving more than 40 sorties across various geographies and aircraft types1. In July 2024, AQNav demonstrated its capability to serve as a primary navigation source and showed potential for scalability across similar aircraft types without individual calibration.

As part of the DIANA program, SandboxAQ will receive resources, insights and developmental support to advance AQNav’s capabilities. The company will also have opportunities to test the system in specialized environments, leveraging DIANA’s network of experts in technology, commercial development and defense.