In an era of increasing global instability and competition, one of the least visible yet most critical strategic vulnerabilities facing the United States is its overreliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS). A revolutionary technology that has powered both military and commercial applications and driven economic growth across industries, GPS has now become a single point of failure that adversaries like China and Russia can attack to disrupt military operations, supply chains, and critical infrastructure.
But we are not powerless – emerging Alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Alt-PNT) technologies offer a resilient path forward that aligns with the current administration’s priorities of military dominance, infrastructure revitalization, and technological leadership. By expanding beyond satellite-based GPS, policymakers can improve our national security, safeguard our citizens, and ensure a vibrant economic future. A blueprint already exists – all that’s needed is for leaders to expend the necessary political capital and put policies into action.
Simply put, Alt-PNT ensures that our planes, ships, drones and critical systems can still navigate or keep time accurately when GPS signals become unavailable or unreliable – as we’ve seen in the growing daily occurrences of GPS interference impacting commercial aviation and military operations globally. The U.S. National Defense Strategy emphasizes “defending the homeland” and maintaining technological superiority – goals directly supported by emerging Alt-PNT systems, including our AQNav magnetic navigation (MagNav) solution currently being tested by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. Implementing these technologies provide resilience and redundancy to existing guidance systems but could also enable navigation in places where GPS signals cannot reach, such as underwater.
The implications stretch far beyond military use. GPS currently synchronizes our power grid, financial transactions, emergency services, and cellular networks – making them extremely vulnerable. A 2019 report sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) estimated that a loss of GPS would cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion per day. Since infrastructure modernization efforts are a cornerstone of the administration’s economic agenda, integrating Alt-PNT systems into projects funded by the $1.5 trillion infrastructure initiative would harden these assets against disruption while fostering domestic innovation in quantum sensors, low-Earth orbit satellites and other Alt-PNT solutions.
A coordinated policy approach is crucial to strengthen the resilience of Alt-PNT systems. To this end, the President should replace outdated PNT policies with an executive order prioritizing Alt-PNT as critical infrastructure – a move similar to the UK’s elevation of GPS failure in its National Risk Register. Such a directive could designate Alt-PNT development as a national security priority under the Defense Production Act, opening the doors for innovative private sector technologies and fast-track approvals by the Department of Defense (DoD), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other agencies. For greater accountability, the EO could require the PNT Executive Committee to publish annual progress reports on military and civilian Alt-PNT integration.
Modernizing U.S. infrastructure and defense is a topic supported on both sides of the aisle. To fund Alt-PNT R&D and deployment, the administration could tap into existing FY25 defense and infrastructure bills, simultaneously improving the accuracy of weapons systems while advancing dual-use technologies. For instance, the President could allocate funds from the DoD’s $182 million Glide Phase Interceptor budget or the U.S. Space Force’s $28.7 billion budget to explore integrating Alt-PNT with new and existing platforms. For infrastructure, Congress could mandate allocating a portion of the Dept. of Transportation’s (DoT) $1.4 billion PROTECT grants for Alt-PNT adoption in transportation projects, which would advance the capabilities of safe, automated vehicular traffic such as robotaxis and freight transport. Similar to the U.K., the U.S. could establish a national testing ground for Alt-PNT systems to reduce the time and cost of experimentation and accelerate deployment.
The administration’s emphasis on deregulation and rapid procurement can also help break bureaucratic logjams. For instance, facilitating approvals for Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements would fast-track Alt-PNT prototypes from companies like SandboxAQ, bringing these technologies to market much sooner. Other ways to stimulate innovation would be to expand R&D tax credits to Alt-PNT solution or service providers, or host an Alt-PNT Innovation Summit with NATO and Five Eyes partners to standardize protocols. Once regulatory approval to deploy AQNav is secured, it could become a significant export for the U.S., leading to new jobs to manufacture, test and install, and maintain the new MagNav equipment globally.
Since Alt-PNT applies to a growing number use-cases across various sectors and federal agencies, the administration could also mandate greater cross-collaboration between departments. For example, a joint DoD-DoT task force could align military needs with commercial breakthroughs, such as certifying MagNav or other quantum navigation systems for both military and commercial jets, unmanned weapons systems and autonomous freight trucks, and similar dual-use applications.
Just as the administration has prioritized energy independence and border security, Alt-PNT should be incorporated into the administration’s broader economic and defense agenda, alongside AI, cybersecurity, and quantum. Alt-PNT investment represents a strategic opportunity to decouple American navigation capabilities from vulnerable satellite systems. With China conducting close-proximity satellite operations, and adversaries fielding cheap but effective jammers to create chaos and uncertainty, maintaining a GPS monopoly puts America at risk. It’s akin to having only a single set of car keys – lose them and you’re stranded. In this scenario, Alt-PNT ensures that there’s always a spare key built into the car – i.e., multiple navigation modalities working together to ensure no one interference event can knock out positioning or timing across the board.
As mentioned, a blueprint for Alt-PNT innovation already exists. In 2018, President Trump signed the National Timing Resilience and Security Act into law, and in 2020 drafted Executive Order 13905, Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Services. The current U.S. Alt-PNT policy, outlined in Space Policy Directive 7 (SPD-7), emphasizes maintaining U.S. leadership in PNT services, promoting resilient and cybersecure systems, and ensuring reliable access for both civil and military applications. Congress has also laid groundwork for this transition with the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mandating the Pentagon field Alt-PNT systems. In 2025, it should evaluate what progress has been made, increase funding for Alt-PNT R&D, and support rapid deployment in the FY2026 NDAA and defense appropriations.
Developing more resilient GPS is not only a good defense strategy, it’s good public policy. The fact that there is also a critical need for a resilient GPS alternative in commercial aviation is another strong incentive. With dual-use systems like AQNav proving they can operate in contested, degraded, and denied environments, the technology is ready. By integrating Alt-PNT projects into current and future defense and infrastructure budgets, policymakers can deliver a future navigation ecosystem as robust and self-reliant as the nation it serves – at the pace and scale that America’s rapidly evolving security and economic requirements demand.
