When GNSS Can No Longer Be Taken for Granted – Resilient Navigation for Autonomous Systems
GNSS resilience is moving into focus
From 14 to 18 September 2026, GNSS manufacturers, researchers and system developers from around the world will meet again at Jammertest 2026 on Andøya, Norway. Under controlled real-world conditions, positioning and navigation systems will be exposed to GNSS jamming, meaconing and spoofing.
Events such as Jammertest illustrate a development that is becoming increasingly relevant for autonomous systems: reliable GNSS reception can no longer be taken for granted.
For UAVs and other autonomous platforms, this raises an important question: How should a navigation system respond when the RF environment itself becomes unreliable?
This is precisely the question behind the development of hensec REGINA-AIR.
With REGINA-Air, hensec introduces a compact solution combining resilient GNSS navigation with real-time interference awareness
Satellite navigation has become a fundamental part of many autonomous systems. UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles and mobile robots rely on GNSS for much more than determining their position. Position, velocity and precise timing information feed directly into navigation, flight control, mission planning and the georeferencing of sensor data.
This also makes GNSS a critical part of the overall system.
In an interference-free environment, this is usually unproblematic. In real-world operations, however, GNSS reception can be affected by other radio systems, unintentional emissions or deliberate jamming. Because satellite signals arrive at the receiver at extremely low power levels, even relatively modest interference can have a significant impact on GNSS performance.
For autonomous systems, the relevant question is therefore no longer simply how accurately a GNSS solution performs under ideal conditions, but how reliably it can operate in a challenging RF environment.
Resilience Has to Start Before the Receiver
A high-performance GNSS receiver is only one part of the solution.
Strong interference first reaches the antenna and RF signal path. If this part of the system is already overloaded or severely affected, subsequent signal-processing techniques can only do so much. Conversely, a resilient antenna alone is not sufficient if the receiver cannot effectively process the remaining satellite signals and mitigate interference.
With REGINA-Air, Hensec therefore follows a multi-layer approach.
The system combines jamming-resilient antenna technology from Calian with an advanced Septentrio GNSS receiver and a compact electronics and interface platform developed by Hensec.
Resilience starts at the RF input and continues at receiver level. Rather than relying on a single “anti-jamming” feature, the objective is to create a robust GNSS signal chain as an integrated system.
From GNSS Receiver to Integrated Navigation Module
For UAV applications in particular, GNSS performance alone is not enough. Size, weight, power supply, interfaces and software integration all determine whether a technology can be used effectively in a real platform.
REGINA-Air was therefore not developed as a loose combination of individual components.
The GNSS receiver is integrated into compact Hensec electronics that provide the navigation and status information required by the autonomous system in real time. This includes position, velocity and timing information. Via DroneCAN, the data can be provided directly to systems based on ArduPilot or PX4.
This moves a significant part of the integration effort from the system developer into the product itself.
Instead of separately integrating the antenna, GNSS receiver, power supply, interfaces and data communication, developers of autonomous platforms receive a solution designed specifically for this type of application.
Interference Is Valuable Information in Its Own Right
One aspect was particularly important during the development of REGINA-Air.
In a conventional GNSS installation, the primary interest is usually the navigation result. As long as a valid position is available, the RF environment itself often remains largely invisible to the higher-level system.
For an autonomous platform, however, this information can be highly valuable.
REGINA-Air therefore does not use information about detected GNSS interference solely for internal signal processing. Information about interference events can also be provided digitally to the host system.
The GNSS system effectively becomes a sensor for the local GNSS interference environment.
This opens up applications that go beyond improving navigation robustness. During a mission, for example, a UAV can detect interference and record it together with position and time. Interference events can then be georeferenced, logged and analysed after the mission.
With appropriate processing, this data can be used for mobile measurements or to create georeferenced representations of the GNSS interference environment.
Navigation and Situational Awareness Come Together
This combination is particularly relevant for autonomous systems.
The platform can not only attempt to maintain navigation under challenging conditions, but can simultaneously obtain information indicating that its electromagnetic environment has changed.
This information can be logged, transmitted to a ground station or made available to higher-level functions within the autonomous platform.
It adds another dimension to situational awareness. The relevant question is no longer only:
“Where am I?”
but also:
“Under what GNSS conditions am I currently operating?”
This is an important distinction between a conventional GNSS receiver and the system approach behind REGINA-Air.
Developed from Real UAV Requirements
REGINA-Air originated from specific requirements in the UAV environment. The challenge was not simply to combine different technologies, but to integrate them into a compact unit that could be used practically within an autonomous platform.
Three core functions emerged from this development:
NAVIGATE. DETECT. ANALYSE.
NAVIGATE represents resilient multi-band, multi-constellation GNSS navigation for demanding RF environments.
DETECT describes the ability to detect GNSS interference onboard and make this information available to the higher-level system in real time.
ANALYSE extends the concept by enabling the resulting data to be used for logging, measurements, georeferenced evaluation and post-mission analysis.
Together, these capabilities turn the GNSS subsystem into an active part of overall system awareness.
Resilient PNT Is Becoming a System-Level Requirement
As autonomy increases, so does the importance of the availability and reliability of positioning, navigation and timing information. At the same time, the electromagnetic environments in which autonomous systems operate are becoming increasingly complex.
For this reason, we believe that GNSS systems should no longer be assessed solely on their accuracy and sensitivity under optimal reception conditions.
Increasingly important is how a system responds to interference, what information it can provide about its own reception environment, and how easily this information can be integrated into the overall architecture of an autonomous platform.
REGINA-Air is Hensec's approach to bringing these requirements together in a compact solution: resilient GNSS navigation, digital interference detection and direct integration into autonomous systems.
Further technical information about REGINA-Air is available on our product page.
https://hensec.com/de/component/content/article/regina-air?catid=9
Further technical information about our Calian Jamming Resilient Antennas is available here::
https://hensec.com/de/produkte/gps/jamming-resiliente-crpa-antennen