The U.S. Army has awarded an $11.26 million contract to Tern, an Austin-based startup, to deploy the company's low-cost navigation technology that operates without GPS in military vehicles. According to a TechCrunch report published September 10, the Army is turning to the alternative system as GPS disruptions increase worldwide, particularly across the Middle East and in airspace over Ukraine and Russia. The military itself has been testing GPS jamming capabilities, which may have played a role in a fatal medevac plane crash earlier in 2026.
Tern's technology works by tapping into data that modern vehicles already produce while driving, though the startup didn't disclose the specific methods it uses to convert that information into navigational coordinates. The system consists of a device that connects to a vehicle's diagnostic port, wired to a tablet that soldiers use to view their position, navigation routes, and directions—what co-founder and CEO Shaun Moore describes as "Google Maps for the battlefield." The company processes everything at the edge, allowing vehicles to determine their own location independently whether on-road, off-road, in tunnels, or in desert terrain. Co-founder Brett Harrison recently tested the system on a 1,300-mile trip from Austin to Laguna Beach, California, and Tern's technology maintained an accurate position throughout the journey while conventional GPS failed dozens of times.
Moore told TechCrunch that the company "passively listens to" vehicle-generated information without disrupting its flow, then uses proprietary techniques to make it usable for navigation. "There is quite a bit of work that was done to get it to the point where we can just receive that information and then output latitude / longitude," he said. He also noted that consumers don't fully grasp GPS vulnerability, saying people assume "the blue dot on their phone" will always be present simply because it's there now. Harrison, who served in Afghanistan as part of a special operations task force, said the Army contract validates years of effort to prove the technology works, adding that from the start, the team recognized "it has to be actually deployable, actually scalable, and not a science project."
The Army's investment comes amid a broader push from Congress and the Trump administration during his first term to build resilient navigation systems that don't rely on GPS for military operations. Beyond accuracy, Tern's system offers a critical advantage: it's a closed network, making it significantly harder for adversaries to jam or disrupt compared to GPS signals that are openly broadcast and vulnerable to interference. That dual capability—precise positioning combined with resistance to enemy countermeasures—positions the technology as more than just a backup solution for battlefield operations. The military's willingness to deploy Tern's approach at scale signals a recognition that satellite-dependent navigation has become a strategic liability in modern conflict zones where electronic warfare is routine. For defense contractors and navigation technology firms, the Army's bet on vehicle-based positioning could reshape how autonomous systems and battlefield logistics are designed in environments where GPS can no longer be trusted.