Providing Direction for Resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing.
The Challenge
Positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) information is vital to all warfighting platforms, mission-critical operations, and supporting systems within the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In an increasingly complex geostrategic and warfighting environment, access to assured and resilient PNT is a key requirement for the Department of Defence’s (Defence) capabilities to achieve the strategic posture described in the 2024 National Defence Strategy.
Assessing PNT Disruptions and Their Impacts on Defence
There are no open-source examples of scenario planning or tabletop exercises in Australia specifically addressing the disruption of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), particularly with a Defence focus. To address this gap, FrontierSI designed a Defence-focused scenario exercise to examine situations where Australia’s ability to deter is compromised, with special consideration of situations when PNT is degraded or denied. This January 2025 report is the first of a series of findings under the project “Armouring the Clock: Direction for Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), funded by the 2024 Defence Strategic Policy Grants Program.
Assessing PNT Disruptions and Their Impacts on Defence
Beyond GPS: Charting Australia’s PNT Future in an Uncertain World
Australia’s primary reliance on GPS for its PNT services creates a strategic vulnerability, and leaves it exposed to almost single-point failure, with limited resilience in the face of emerging threats and global instability. As geostrategic competition intensifies and space becomes a contested domain, other nations are investing in alternative technologies and national strategies to reduce dependence on GNSS. In contrast, Australia lacks a cohesive national approach, a clear governance framework, and a dedicated risk oversight for PNT, despite Defence and industry recognising the criticality of the issue. To address this gap and adapt international best practice to the Australian context, this paper recommends establishing a dedicated National PNT Office to lead cross-government strategy, coordination and PNT risk management. It also outlines potential governance approaches for both national and Defence-related PNT capabilities.
Beyond GPS: Charting Australia’s PNT Future in an Uncertain World
ANCHOR – Strengthening Australia’s PNT Resilience
FrontierSI has released the third report in our Armouring the Clock series: ANCHOR, a comprehensive examination of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) threats and the technologies required to strengthen Australia’s resilience across cooperation, competition and conflict.
Funded under the Defence Strategic Policy Grants Program, ANCHOR brings together a civil–military threat framework with a detailed overview of the evolving PNT technology landscape.
The report examines hazards ranging from cyber and supply chain risks through to workforce and personnel vulnerabilities. It spans technologies across space-based systems, terrestrial capabilities, and emerging alternative solutions. Importantly, it outlines how coordinated policy, governance and technology levers can address these vulnerabilities.
ANCHOR highlights:
• How PNT threats can be framed across Defence, civil government and critical infrastructure sectors
• How these threats can be detected, monitored and anticipated
• Where resilience can be strengthened through nationally aligned action
Key Recommendations:
✔️ Define nationally coordinated, threat-driven and risk-based requirements for PNT resilience
✔️ Undertake feasibility studies of PNT architectures to meet these requirements
✔️ Review existing policy, regulatory and standards frameworks to support resilient PNT outcomes
✔️ Develop an Australian PNT Strategy to guide future capability
Read the full ANCHOR report here: Australia’s Navigation and Timing Challenges on Hazards, Operations and Resilience
Read the full ALIGN report here: Aligning Leadership, Integration, and Governance of PNT in Australia
Contact
To learn more, please contact Jia Lee, jlee@frontiersi.com.au or Eldar Rubinov, erubinov@frontiersi.com.au.