Agilica advances alternative navigation system for autonomous UAV landings on moving ships
Belgium’s Agilica is pushing ahead with a hybrid positioning system designed to let unmanned aircraft land autonomously on moving ships when satellite navigation is degraded or unavailable. The work sits at the core of the Safe autonomous integrated landing system for ships, or SAILS, a Belgian Defense-backed research program focused on one of maritime aviation’s hardest problems: guiding a drone safely onto a moving deck in rough conditions where GNSS cannot be trusted on its own.
Agilica’s approach centers on its ground-based localization system, known as AGL, which combines ultra-wideband terrestrial signals with GNSS to preserve precision in contested or obstructed environments. The architecture works like a local mini-constellation. Fixed UWB anchors with known coordinates transmit ranging signals to tags carried by the UAV. That allows the aircraft to maintain centimeter-level positioning even when multipath effects or signal blockage would undermine a satellite-only solution. Agilica said an earlier European Space Agency-funded feasibility study completed in 2025 validated the technical and commercial case for using the system in precision navigation and landing missions in difficult settings, including indoor areas, offshore platforms and vessels at sea. The study showed the UWB-assisted setup could augment GNSS and deliver accuracy below 20 centimeters.
The SAILS program has a budget of 1.6 million euros and runs from 2025 to 2028 under Belgium’s defense DEFRA framework. The consortium includes Sabena Engineering, the Belgian Navy, the Royal Military Academy and Agilica. Its aim goes beyond basic autonomous landing. The partners want to expand UAV operations in high sea states, harsh weather and GNSS-challenged conditions that are increasingly relevant for defense missions, offshore energy support and search-and-rescue work. The effort also comes as concern grows over GNSS vulnerability, including interference, obstruction and other disruptions that can limit autonomous systems in the field.
If the technology proves out in operational demonstrations, it could give maritime drone operators a more resilient positioning, navigation and timing option where satellite signals alone fall short on accuracy or integrity. That would widen the practical use of autonomous UAVs at sea and reduce a critical bottleneck in naval, offshore and emergency response operations.