Preparing for a Denied Environment: Building a Resilient PNT Architecture

The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) released its report on the proceedings of a high-level tabletop exercise examining vulnerabilities and strategic responses to a positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) denial scenario. The exercise, which is part of the Center’s National Security Space Program, convened senior leaders from defense, industry, intelligence, and academic communities to examine the response options to adversary denial of the Global Positioning System.

The resulting report, “Preparing for a Denied Environment: Building a Resilient PNT Architecture,” outlines recommendations to enhance redundancy, improve system resilience, and strengthen deterrence by signaling national preparedness to adversaries.

Participants emphasized that the United States’ economic stability, military readiness, and critical infrastructure all rely on uninterrupted access to trusted PNT signals — making resilience both a strategic and economic imperative.

Key recommendations include adopting a system-of-systems approach to PNT architectures, fostering public-private innovation partnerships, and establishing clear national leadership for PNT policy and coordination. The report also highlights the need for strategic messaging to demonstrate credible response and recovery capabilities, thereby reducing incentives for adversarial interference.

publication details

• Authors:

  Joshua Huminski

• Publication date:

  February 2026

• Pages:

  15