Austin-based technology firm Tern has secured an $11.26 million contract from the U.S. Army to deploy its alternative navigation system, designed to operate independently of traditional Global Positioning System (GPS) infrastructure.
The agreement marks a significant milestone for the startup, which describes its technology as “Google Maps for the battlefield.” While the specific scope of the military rollout remains undisclosed, the system is intended to provide precise positioning and routing for military vehicles in environments where GPS signals are compromised or unavailable.
The move addresses growing concerns within the defense sector regarding the fragility of GPS, particularly in conflict zones such as the Middle East and regions affected by aerial activity over Ukraine and Russia. Recent incidents, including the suspected role of military GPS jamming technology in a fatal medevac plane crash in New Mexico earlier this year, have intensified efforts by Congress and the Trump administration to develop resilient navigation solutions for tactical use.
Tern’s approach diverges from satellite-dependent models by leveraging data already generated by modern vehicles. The system connects to a vehicle’s diagnostic port and interfaces with a tablet used by soldiers to determine position, route, and navigation.
“We’ve got a device that plugs into the diagnostics board of the vehicle, wired to a tablet, and then that tablet is the interface for the soldier to use,” said Tern co-founder and CEO Shaun Moore. “We provide both the position and navigation and routing there for the soldier.”
Moore emphasized that Tern’s technology passively listens to vehicle data without disrupting its flow, using proprietary methods to convert that information into usable latitude and longitude coordinates. The system relies on edge processing, allowing vehicles to determine their location independently in challenging terrains such as tunnels or deserts.
The reliability of the technology was recently demonstrated during a 1,300-mile drive from Austin to Laguna Beach, California, undertaken by co-founder Brett Harrison. According to Harrison, Tern’s system maintained continuous tracking throughout the journey, whereas conventional GPS experienced dozens of outages along the same route.
Beyond accuracy, the system offers a distinct security advantage: because it operates as a closed system, it presents a harder target for adversaries attempting to disrupt navigation signals compared to open GPS networks.
“I don’t know that there is broad awareness on the fragility of the GPS system from a consumer standpoint,” Moore noted. “I think people just see the blue dot on their phone and say it will always be there because it’s there now, right? Why wouldn’t it be there?”
For Harrison, whose background includes service in Afghanistan with a special operations task force, the Army contract validates years of development focused on practical deployment rather than theoretical proof-of-concept. “From the very foundation of when we decided to embark upon this effort, we recognized it has to be actually deployable, actually scalable, and not a science project,” he said. “We weren’t interested in just seeing what we could prove. We wanted to make sure it actually was something that could get into the wild and serve a purpose.”
I wonder how this performs in extreme cold? The California drive sounds promising, but desert heat and arctic conditions are a whole different challenge.
Finally, a backup that doesn’t rely on satellites. With GPS jamming becoming commonplace, this seems like essential gear for modern warfare.