OPINION:
Over the course of nearly four decades in the U.S. Navy, I witnessed how our technology underpins everything we do in defense. From my early days aboard submarines to leading the Office of Naval Research, I spent my career asking one critical question: How do we stay ahead?
That question has never been more urgent. Today, space is contested. GPS, the backbone of weapons systems, encrypted communications, the financial system and telecommunications networks, is increasingly at risk. Our adversaries understand this. They have built layered systems with redundancy on land, at sea and in orbit. Meanwhile, the U.S. has no terrestrial complement or backup to GPS. Worse, it’s a vulnerability we have known about for years.
Some see this as a matter of resilience. I see it as a matter of survival. If we lose access to GPS through jamming, spoofing or kinetic attack, we don’t lose just navigation. We lose timing. We lose targeting. We lose command and control. You’d better believe our adversaries understand this.
That’s why we need a hedge.
In finance, hedge strategies protect you when markets shift. In defense, we need similar redundancy. We learned that lesson the hard way on Dec. 7, 1941. At Pearl Harbor, our battleships were decimated, but our aircraft carriers, the Navy’s emerging hedge at that time, were at sea. They became the tip of the spear for the Pacific campaign. Submarines, another hedge, quietly played a decisive role. Together, aircraft carriers and submarines allowed us to respond to the threat immediately and decisively. We prevailed because we had options, because we hedged.
We need the same mindset now. Our positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) infrastructure must be a system of systems. Satellites cannot bear the burden alone, and relying on a single system leaves us exposed. The Departments of Defense and Transportation have said as much.
We should evaluate multiple technologies in the same way we diversify defense portfolios across air, sea, cyber and space. That includes long-term development efforts that could span decades. It also means exploring options that can deliver ground-based, wide-scale solutions that offer layers of PNT resiliency to critical infrastructure, public safety and consumers. The clock is ticking, and the threats are real. We need credible, workable systems now.
I’ve looked at a lot of the options on the table, and I’m encouraged by what I see. That includes solutions like the one NextNav is advancing. Their terrestrial PNT solution is a smart hedge. It uses licensed spectrum, leverages existing 5G infrastructure, integrates with end-user devices and requires no taxpayer funding. It’s a practical, scalable solution that can offer America one of several hedges it needs now, not years from now.
The Federal Communications Commission has taken an important step by launching a notice of inquiry on resilient PNT. That leadership is worth recognizing. This is the first administration to take the bull by the horns, and it’s long overdue. Now, it must be followed with action, starting with a notice of proposed rulemaking in the FCC’s parallel proceeding and a shared commitment to move from debate to solving a major American vulnerability. Building a hedge isn’t a future goal; it’s a present necessity.
We’ve hedged before. That foresight changed history.
Let’s not ignore that lesson now.
• Rear Adm. Lorin Selby (retired) served nearly 37 years in the U.S. Navy, most recently as chief of naval research. He is a recognized leader in defense innovation. He joined NextNav’s board of directors in May after evaluating its technology.
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