Key facts
- Tern, an Austin-based startup, won a $11.26 million contract from the U.S. Army.
- The contract is for Tern's low-cost GPS alternative navigation technology to be used in military vehicles.
- Tern's system uses vehicle diagnostic data and edge processing to determine position independently.
- The technology is described as "Google Maps for the battlefield" and is a closed system to enhance resilience against disruption.
- Co-founder Shaun Moore stated the system plugs into a vehicle's diagnostics board and interfaces via a tablet.
- The U.S. military has been exploring resilient navigation technologies due to rising GPS disruptions.
Tern, a startup based in Austin, Texas, has been awarded an $11.26 million contract by the U.S. Army to implement its alternative navigation technology in military vehicles. This system aims to provide positioning and routing capabilities without relying on traditional GPS, a critical development amid increasing disruptions to GPS signals, particularly in regions like the Middle East and Ukraine.
The technology, which Tern calls "Google Maps for the battlefield," functions by plugging into a vehicle's diagnostics board and using the data generated to determine its position. Co-founder and CEO Shaun Moore explained that the system "passively listens" to this information and employs "proprietary methods" to make it usable for navigation, outputting latitude and longitude. This edge processing allows vehicles to navigate independently, even in environments where GPS signals are unreliable or unavailable, such as tunnels or deserts.
Co-founder Brett Harrison, a military veteran, emphasized the practical and scalable nature of Tern's solution, noting that it's a closed system designed to be more resistant to adversarial disruption. He shared a personal experience of using the technology for a 1,300-mile drive where traditional GPS failed multiple times, while Tern's system maintained accurate positioning throughout. The contract signifies a validation of Tern's efforts to create a deployable and scalable navigation solution for military use, addressing a recognized vulnerability in current GPS-dependent systems.