Military Ground Vehicle Navigation

Providing Assured Position & Navigation for the Digital Battlespace

GPS and GNSS are the primary satellite-based sources for essential positioning navigation and timing for tactical missions. Yet satellite-based data is increasingly vulnerable to disruption from both natural causes such as buildings, canyons, and mountains, and electronic jamming, and spoofing by enemies. Even the temporary GPS loss for position and navigation on the digital battlefield creates greater uncertainty for land forces, putting critical missions and the safety of U.S. and allied forces at risk.

The use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) as primary Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) sources has become essential for modern tactical missions. These systems provide precise, real-time information that enhances operational effectiveness, coordination, and decision-making across all military operating domains.

Accurate positioning enables determining the exact locations of personnel, vehicles, and assets to reduce battlefield uncertainty. This precision supports maneuver planning, target acquisition, and navigation in complex or unfamiliar environments, including urban, maritime, and austere terrain. GNSS-guided navigation significantly lowers the risk of fratricide and mission failure by ensuring shared situational awareness among joint and coalition forces.

Timing is another critical component of GPS/GNSS. Precise timing synchronization allows for coordinating communications networks, command-and-control systems, and weapon platforms. Tactical operations rely on synchronized actions such as coordinated strikes, sensor fusion, and data transmission, all of which depend on accurate timing signals. Without reliable timing, networked warfare capabilities would be severely degraded.

Additionally, GPS and GNSS enable effective precision-guided munitions deployment, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, and autonomous or semi-autonomous platforms. These capabilities increase mission efficiency while minimizing collateral damage and resource expenditure. The integration of GNSS into tactical systems has transformed how missions are planned and executed.

However, reliance on GPS/GNSS also introduces vulnerabilities, including jamming, spoofing, and signal denial by adversaries. As a result, modern tactical planning increasingly emphasizes resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions, such as multi-constellation GNSS, anti-jam technologies, and alternative navigation methods. Despite these challenges, GPS and GNSS remain foundational to tactical missions by providing indispensable PNT capabilities that underpin modern military operations.

By recognizing these threats and building on decades of expertise, EMCORE TACNAV® products are effective, accurate, and unjammable position and navigation systems that deliver low-cost, low-risk, immediate solutions to GPS/GNSS denial and jamming.