Unjammable Drones? – Todd Humphreys at Munich

April 4, 2026

Written by Editor

Image: Todd Humphreys

What’s new: Interesting slides from Todd Humphreys’ presentation at the Munich Space Summit. 

Why it’s important:

  • He shows that drones can be much more resilient to GNSS interference, if the operator is willing to spend some money and effort.
  • It is another example of asymmetric capabilities in a conflict. Another way a smaller country can “punch above its weight” when up against a much larger one.
  • It is also a great example of Todd’s layered navigation approach about which we have previously posted. See “99.9% Not Good Enough for Urban Drones.”

What else to know: 

  • As UAV technologies and systems develop, we will be interested to see how the tradeoff between the costs of resilient user equipment and resilient signals (which require infrastructure) are traded off. For example, should all drone operators have to spend $3,000+ for navigation equipment, or would it be better for a nation to spend $100M for infrastructure to drive the user cost down to a few dollars? – Numbers suggested for illustration purposes only.
  • Prof. Todd Humphreys is a member of and advisor to the RNT Foundation.

Slides: Prof Todd Humphreys

What Can YOU Do? How Can YOU Help?

PNT is the quiet backbone of everything but too many leaders still don’t see the risk.

But you do. You understand the systems, the dependencies, the failure chains. That insight is rare — and it’s exactly what your country needs right now. Contact your government leaders and industry decision-makers and tell them resilient PNT isn’t a feature — it’s the foundation everything else depends on.

Start the Conversation

Use our Resilient PNT Key Talking Points to make the case.

U.S. Advocates

Find your representatives at Congress.gov, then use our email template to reach them in minutes.

When you get a response, let us know. Every conversation strengthens the mission.

More PNT News

Canada Ending Radio Time Signals (accuracy

Canada Ending Radio Time Signals (accuracy <1ms)

Image: Shutterstock What's new: Canada has announced it is cancelling its short wave time signals as of the 22nd of June 2026. Why it's important: The other sources of official time from the Canadian government (National Research Council, or NRC) are less accurate...

“We can track Starlink users…” – Fast Company

“We can track Starlink users…” – Fast Company

Image: Shutterstock What's new: A report that multiple companies are offering governments the ability to geolocate Starlink terminals.  Why it's important: Security concerns - an adversary could target, kidnap, kill, etc. users. Privacy concerns - user location data...

Honeybees teach drones how to navigate without GPS – Cybernews

Honeybees teach drones how to navigate without GPS – Cybernews

Image: Shutterstock What's new: An interesting form of autonomous navigation based on nature. Why it's important: Autonomous systems have an important place in an overall PNT architecture. For some applications they are the best/only method. This system uses just 42...

PNT cyber guidance update – NIST wants your input

PNT cyber guidance update – NIST wants your input

Image: RNT Foundation What's new: Draft updated PNT cyber guidance from NIST. They are seeking public comment and input. Why it's important: PNT and cyber are well intertwined. PNT is an essential tech infrastructure so protecting it from malicious cyber effects is...

Get PNT News in Your Inbox