Q-CTRL Achieves World’s First GPS-Free Quantum Gravimetric Navigation Demonstration in Maritime Field Trial SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – August 27, 2026 – Q-CTRL, the global leader in quantum infrastructure software, today announced a major milestone in real-world quantum sensing deployments. In a world-first field demonstration, the company successfully navigated a maritime vessel without GPS using a new form of software-ruggedized quantum gravimeter. Through a series of trials in the Coral Sea off the East Coast of Australia, Q-CTRL performed autonomous gravity mapping and GPS-free quantum-gravimetric navigation, achieving the key metric of one nautical mile positioning accuracy. This demonstration of Q-CTRL’s new maritime quantum navigation system comes as the race intensifies to develop secure capabilities for missions where GPS is unavailable or compromised. This year, electronic warfare took center stage as conflict in the Strait of Hormuz became a flashpoint for deliberate GPS jamming and spoofing, causing major disruption to maritime operations across the entire region. In Q1 of 2026 alone, approximately 978,000 GPS jamming events were recorded globally, with 98% concentrated in the Middle East, affecting more than 1,100 vessels. Ironstone Opal by Q-CTRL is a new generation of quantum-assured navigation systems that delivers GPS-like positioning by “seeing” the Earth’s unique geophysical signatures. This advanced quantum sensing-powered technology is designed to operate in all domains—air, land, and sea—and serves as a robust backup for when GPS is unavailable or impaired. It functions day or night, in all visibility conditions, and does not rely on transmitting or receiving any external radio signals, making it immune to jamming and spoofing attacks. Today’s report demonstrates a new form of quantum “GravNav” which uses a quantum sensor to continuously “see” the tiny and otherwise invisible hills and valleys in Earth’s gravity, allowing the system to position against gravity maps. It builds on the company’s existing “MagNav”