A new report urges the Pentagon to significantly increase investments to modernize and strengthen positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems, warning that critical upgrades are essential for the effectiveness of the Golden Dome missile defense shield.
Released Nov. 4 by the National Security Space Association’s Moorman Center for Space Studies, the report – authored by James Frelk, the center’s vice chair – says that Golden Dome “will be heavily dependent upon Position, Navigation and Timing for its effectiveness” and warns that current PNT sources – primarily the Global Positioning (GPS) and allied Global Navigation Satellite Systems – have significant vulnerabilities that adversaries are already exploiting. Without major investments in resilient PNT infrastructure, the study cautions, Golden Dome may be unable to accurately track, target and intercept advanced missile and drone threats.
Golden Dome, introduced by President Donald Trump in a Jan. 27 executive order, directs the Defense Department (DOD) – rebranded as the Department of War by the Trump administration – to build a “next-generation missile shield” for homeland defense. The White House projected the $175 billion program would be fielded within three years.
The Pentagon has yet to release a detailed plan for Golden Dome, though Trump has said the system will likely rely on “existing space-based capabilities.”
The report identifies potential vulnerabilities across the DOD’s PNT enterprise and outlines opportunities to upgrade existing systems or adopt commercial alternatives. According to the report, the GPS constellation, consisting of 31 satellites in medium-Earth orbit (MEO), remains susceptible to anti-satellite weapons, jamming, and other electronic warfare effects.
To reduce this exposure, the report recommends expanding navigation capabilities beyond MEO. Experiments are already underway to explore multi-orbit approaches, including the Space Force’s launch of the experimental Navigation Technology Satellite-3 to geosynchronous orbit. The mission will test whether layered orbits can improve resiliency against attack.
The study also points to ground-based options.
“Terrestrial PNT capabilities hold the potential of enhancing U.S. military resiliency, especially in tracking and defeating [unmanned ariel systems (UAS)] threats to metropolitan areas,” the report states.
Terrestrial PNT systems like Loran, which uses low-frequency radio signals, could support Golden Dome’s mission to defend cities against UAS intrusions. The report also notes the potential to integrate commercial systems and leverage infrastructure such as the Broadcast Positioning System, which operates through television signals.
To better understand existing shortfalls, the report also recommends the Pentagon conduct a “rapid gap analysis” focused on meeting Golden Dome requirements and provide those findings, along with funding needs, to Congress. It also proposes establishing an “integration management activity” within the Pentagon to coordinate testing, validation, and protection of PNT systems against adversary countermeasures.
The report also urges Congress to require the DOD to deliver a comprehensive PNT improvement plan for Golden Dome, including the funding needed to rapidly deploy the most promising next-generation solutions.
“The adversary will also be developing counter-PNT systems, and those adversary systems must be thwarted,” the report warns. “A mixture of bespoke national security PNT systems can enable rapid and resilient improvements in the timelines needed for Golden Dome deployments.”