MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russia’s SOVA (Comparative Optical Visual Authentication) autonomous navigation system, designed to ensure precise positioning of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) when GPS/GNSS signals and external communications are unavailable or jammed, has been successfully tested in the field, the Center for Unmanned Systems and Technologies (CUST) told TASS.

"The developer of the solution, VA Technologies, is a finalist in the third cohort of the CUST Special-and Dual-Use Projects Accelerator. The SOVA system is based on computer vision technology. During flight, the system compares images from an onboard camera with a satellite map of the terrain and determines the UAV’s location in real time. During testing, a drone equipped with the SOVA system completed a route that had no clear landmarks and included substantial differences between the satellite map and the actual terrain," the company said.

The CUST specified that the flight path was star-shaped. "The UAV, equipped with the autonomous navigation system, sequentially visited four waypoints and returned to its launch site. To make the task more challenging, satellite images from the spring of 2025 were used instead of an up-to-date map. Thus, the tests were conducted with a known discrepancy between the actual terrain and the map data used by the drone," the center noted.

According to the CUST, the most challenging section for the system was the stretch between the second and third waypoints. "The second waypoint on the satellite map was located over dark plowed land, while the actual terrain featured a light-colored field covered with stubble. With no landmarks to guide it, the UAV deviated from its course. However, upon reaching a tree line, the SOVA system promptly corrected its course and successfully reached the third waypoint," the company said.

VA Technologies, commenting on the situation, emphasized that such a scenario is not a failure but a standard operating condition for which the system was designed. "According to the developer, in the absence of GPS, SOVA is capable of increasing the UAV mission reliability rate to 99%," the CUST noted.