The U.S. Army has awarded contracts worth up to $41 million to IS4S and GPS Source to develop next-generation mounted positioning, navigation and timing capabilities under the NorthStar program.
Issued by Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the other transaction authority agreements support a 36-month prototyping effort, the Army said Monday.
Register now for the 2026 Army Summit, hosted by the Potomac Officers Club on June 18, to hear Army officials and industry leaders discuss how the service is restructuring its approach to resources, contracting and technology modernization. The event will provide insight into progress toward the Army’s 2030 goals, including efforts to establish and sustain a unified network.
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What Does the NorthStar Program Aim to Deliver?
The NorthStar effort is focused on developing a modular, upgradable assured PNT capability designed for Army 2040 ground platforms and built on a modular open systems approach to enable integration of emerging technologies.
“Awarding to multiple vendors encourages competition, speeds up implementation and integration of new technology to meet emerging threats, and reduces cost of engineering change proposals,” said Erik Scott, product manager for PNT modernization. “Prioritizing a modular system design for hardware and software ensures the best value for the government and the best solution for our Warfighters.”
The Army plans to begin contract kickoffs in May, followed by design reviews and soldier touchpoints to refine system performance in operational environments.
How Does This Fit Into Broader Army PNT Modernization?
The NorthStar initiative builds on ongoing Army efforts to strengthen assured PNT capabilities in contested environments where GPS signals may be degraded or denied.
Army organizations have already fielded thousands of systems and upgrades to improve resilience, including more than 2,500 ground-based assured PNT systems and approximately 27,000 M-Code-capable receivers deployed in 2024.
These efforts include software updates to legacy systems such as the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver and Ground Based-GPS Receiver Application Modules, enhancing survivability when paired with anti-jam technologies.
Introduced in 2023, the NorthStar program drew responses from 27 vendors, shaping requirements for multiple capability tiers and ultimately leading to a multi-vendor award strategy.
