WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing titled Where Are We?: Examining Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Capabilities in the United States.
Subcommittee Chairman Hudson’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:
“Good morning, and welcome to today’s subcommittee hearing on Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT).
“The Global Positioning System, known as GPS, has been the source of PNT for the United States for decades. Originally developed for military use, GPS was opened to civilian aviation by President Reagan following the 1983 shootdown of a Korean Air Lines passenger jet that had strayed into Soviet airspace. Subsequent Republican and Democrat presidential administrations further expanded access to GPS for civilian applications.
“Today, GPS is free for civilian use. Most Americans now think of the technology as the service behind their favorite navigation devices and apps. However, GPS has many more applications and has been widely integrated into multiple sectors of the economy. This includes communications and energy infrastructure, the financial sector for transaction authentication, and the transportation sector.
“GPS is even used to coordinate emergency response and dispatch first responders to incidents more quickly – something we’re working to implement nationwide. In natural disasters like Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, or wildfires in California, precious seconds can save lives.
“Our warfighters also continue to rely on GPS military and civilian signals. As the Representative for Fort Bragg, home of special operations and the airborne, I continue to hear from our military leaders about the need for more resilient PNT.
“The military relies on GPS for logistics like battlefield resupply and to synchronize operations. GPS’s military signal underpins navigation for military aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and unmanned systems, while also enabling the precise targeting capabilities on which modern military operations depend.
“While national security experts have long warned us about the potential for jamming and spoofing, this is now very much a reality. Our adversaries frequently disrupt GPS in contested environments. For instance, just two weeks ago a Royal Air Force jet carrying the United Kingdom’s Defense Minister lost its GPS signal as a result of suspected Russian jamming. Space is also becoming more contested; Russia and China have been working to develop space-based weapons that threaten U.S. and ally satellite constellations and space-based services, including GPS.
“Disruptions to this critical technology put our service members at severe risk. And, given its broad adoption throughout our economy, a disruption to GPS also has the potential to halt critical services and commerce.
“Put simply, a catastrophic failure of GPS as a result of adversary spoofing or jamming would be devastating to our economy.
“The development and adoption of complementary PNT services is a bipartisan priority. President Trump has been laser-focused on this challenge. During his first term, President Trump issued an Executive Order to direct a comprehensive review of the use of PNT services across the federal government and critical infrastructure, understand vulnerabilities, and improve resilience.
“That Executive Order stood through the Biden Administration and remains in place. Work is ongoing between federal agencies in concert with the private sector to test PNT alternatives, including terrestrial-based systems. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Carr doubled down on this effort by issuing a Notice of Inquiry last March to explore the development of complimentary systems as backups to GPS.
“On today’s panel, we have a range of experts here to speak on the work that’s been done to date to improve GPS resiliency, as well as develop and deploy complementary PNT services that can serve as a backup to GPS. I look forward to also hearing about how this Committee can help support these efforts and after years of work, finally move the ball forward on complementary PNT.”
