The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded contracts to nine Complementary Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technology vendors. The Global Positioning System (GPS), a primary PNT service supporting critical infrastructure, is widely used across various sectors including aviation, maritime, rail transportation, surveying, the financial sector, machine control, precision agriculture, science missions, and space applications. However, GPS signals are vulnerable to disruptions due to their reliance on satellites in medium Earth orbit.
These awards will enable DOT to conduct field tests of commercial PNT technologies to support systems dependent on secure and reliable PNT services. Awarded through the Volpe Center in response to the Rapid Phase of the DOT Complementary PNT Action Plan and totaling over $7.2 million, these funds will be used for instrumentation, testing, and evaluation at field test ranges in collaboration with critical infrastructure owners and operators. The goal is to improve PNT resiliency.
“DOT is impressed with the quality of the proposal responses and received more proposals than could be funded under Simplified Acquisition Procedure guidelines. DOT intends to move expeditiously to issue a Complementary PNT Rapid Phase II solicitation to expand the set of Complementary PNT technologies to be evaluated,” said DOT Chief Science Officer Dr. Robert C. Hampshire.
The awarded technologies will be fielded within six months at various test range models including Federal Government-Hosted sites, Critical Infrastructure locations, and Vendor-Fielded areas. The awarded vendors and their respective technologies include:
- NAL Research (Virginia): Low Earth Orbit (LEO), $144,599
- Parsons (Virginia): Low Earth Orbit (LEO), $132,416
- Hoptroff Inc (California): Time Over Fiber, $934,076
- Microchip (Colorado): Time Over Fiber, $1,498,692
- Safran (New York): Time Over Fiber: $245,300
- Locata (New York): Terrestrial Radiofrequency (RF), $778,630
- NextNav (California): Terrestrial Radiofrequency (RF), $1,876,968
- Carahsoft (Virginia): Map Matching / Map Tracking: $1,556247.50
- TERN AI (Texas): Map Matching / Map Tracking: $51 780
This initiative addresses concerns about jamming and spoofing of Global Navigation Satellite Services like GPS in conflict zones which can disrupt or manipulate PNT services. Enhancing PNT resiliency is crucial for implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and strengthening cybersecurity and reliability of critical infrastructure applications.
