US Army Awards TERN $11.26M for GPS-Independent Navigation

he US Army has awarded Austin-based defense technology company TERN a $11.26 million contract to deploy its GPS-independent navigation technology on military vehicles. The system uses existing vehicle sensors, offline digital maps and artificial intelligence to determine position without relying on GPS, cellular networks or other external signals.

The contract moves TERN’s Independently Derived Positioning System, known as IDPS, beyond earlier US military testing toward operational vehicle deployment. The Army has not disclosed how many vehicles will receive the technology or which formations will operate it.

TERN uses existing vehicle sensors instead of satellite signals

TERN developed IDPS around a different approach to positioning, navigation and timing, or PNT.

Instead of determining location through signals transmitted by satellites, IDPS processes information already generated by a vehicle. TERN says the system combines onboard sensor data with digital base maps and proprietary artificial intelligence to calculate the vehicle’s position locally.

The Army configuration uses a device connected to the vehicle diagnostics interface and a tablet that provides soldiers with positioning, navigation and routing information. Processing occurs at the edge rather than depending on an external positioning network.

TERN says the system can continue operating on roads and across off-road terrain, as well as in environments such as tunnels where satellite navigation becomes unavailable.

The architecture also allows the technology to use sensors already installed on vehicles rather than requiring an additional high-cost navigation sensor suite. TERN describes IDPS as primarily software-based and says it can be integrated directly into vehicle platforms or installed through a plug-in device.

This distinction could become important if the Army eventually seeks to distribute alternative PNT capabilities across large vehicle fleets.

GPS jamming is pushing alternative PNT toward operational deployment

The contract comes as GPS disruption has become a routine feature of modern electronic warfare.

Operations in and around Ukraine have demonstrated how satellite navigation can be degraded through jamming and manipulated through spoofing. Similar disruptions have increasingly affected military and civilian navigation in other contested regions.

The problem extends beyond finding a vehicle on a digital map. Military units depend on accurate PNT data for maneuver, command and control, logistics, targeting and autonomous systems.

TERN is designed to provide an independent positioning source when satellite or communications signals become unavailable.

The company says IDPS does not require GPS, Global Navigation Satellite System signals, cellular connectivity or external infrastructure once operating with the necessary maps and vehicle data.

That also changes the electronic warfare problem.

A conventional satellite-navigation receiver must receive an external radio-frequency signal. A locally operating positioning architecture that does not depend on that signal removes the same GPS link as a direct point of disruption.

TERN has not publicly released enough technical data to independently assess IDPS accuracy across the full range of military terrain and operating conditions. The Army contract nevertheless indicates that the technology has progressed beyond an early laboratory concept.

Army tested TERN before the $11.26 million award

TERN had already established a relationship with the US Army before receiving the latest contract.

In November 2025, the company was selected as a winner of the Army’s xTechOverwatch competition after competing in a field of more than 600 companies. The program included hands-on soldier evaluation at the Bush Combat Development Complex in Bryan, Texas.

TERN has also tested IDPS on Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, according to the company.

In June 2026, TERN participated in the Army’s Operation Jailbreak at Fort Carson, an initiative focused on connecting technologies and platforms that traditionally operated through separate architectures. TERN contributed its independent positioning technology to the interoperability effort.

The sequence from xTechOverwatch testing to Operation Jailbreak and now an $11.26 million deployment contract provides a clearer picture of the Army’s interest than the contract alone.

The Army is evaluating whether alternative positioning can become part of a wider architecture that includes connected and increasingly autonomous ground systems.

GPS-independent positioning could support autonomous vehicles

TERN’s technology also has implications beyond crewed tactical vehicles.

Autonomous and remotely operated ground systems require continuous knowledge of their own position to navigate effectively. Heavy dependence on satellite navigation creates a vulnerability when those systems enter an electronically contested area.

TERN says its architecture can support drones and uncrewed vehicles as well as conventional ground platforms.

The ability to determine position locally could therefore become one layer of a broader navigation architecture for autonomous military systems, alongside inertial navigation, visual navigation and other alternative PNT technologies.

TERN is also a member of the 2026 NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic cohort, giving the company a potential route into allied testing and defense markets beyond the United States.

That makes the Army contract relevant to European militaries confronting the same GPS-denied operating problem.

NATO members are investing heavily in unmanned systems and digitalized ground forces while simultaneously studying the electronic warfare lessons emerging from Ukraine. Resilient PNT will be necessary if those systems are expected to operate when satellite signals become unreliable.

Software approach could simplify fleet-wide adoption

TERN’s main industrial proposition is that alternative navigation does not necessarily require another expensive hardware package on every military vehicle.

The company says IDPS can use existing sensors and digital maps, with its AI engine deriving the vehicle’s position from those inputs. That could allow the architecture to scale across different vehicle types with fewer hardware requirements than some alternative PNT approaches.

The Army has not disclosed which platforms will receive IDPS under the $11.26 million contract, how many systems it will deploy or when fielding will begin.

Those details will determine whether the award remains a limited operational deployment or develops into a larger Army alternative PNT program.

What is already clear is that TERN has moved through several stages of Army engagement in less than a year, from xTechOverwatch soldier testing to Operation Jailbreak and now a multimillion-dollar deployment contract.

For the Army, the objective is straightforward: military vehicles still need to know where they are when the GPS signal disappears.

Questions and answers

How much did the US Army award TERN?

The US Army awarded TERN a $11.26 million contract to deploy its GPS-independent navigation technology on military vehicles.

How does TERN navigate without GPS?

TERN’s Independently Derived Positioning System combines existing vehicle sensor data, offline digital maps and artificial intelligence to calculate position locally without depending on GPS, cellular networks or other external positioning signals.

Has the US Army already tested TERN technology?

Yes. TERN won the US Army xTechOverwatch competition in 2025 following soldier testing and participated in Operation Jailbreak at Fort Carson in June 2026. The company also says its technology has been tested on Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.

Why does the US Army need alternatives to GPS?

GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed during electronic warfare. Alternative PNT systems provide another source of positioning and navigation information when satellite signals become degraded or unavailable.