On 26 January, we, together with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence and the European Defence Agency (EDA), convened several European partner states, bringing together civilian and military authorities to address challenges related to Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR), the military dimension of secure Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT).
The discussions highlighted that ensuring resilient and secure PNT capabilities requires a comprehensive whole of government approach and, given the breadth of societal dependencies, a whole of society perspective.
The workshop explored key themes:
- how NAVWAR is a whole of government resilience challenge
- why defending against NAVWAR begins with shared situational awareness, coordinated monitoring, and international cooperation
- how offensive NAVWAR is about deterrence and control within political and legal boundaries
- how NAVWAR situational awareness underpins timely decisions and effective responses across national and international levels
The way ahead requires institutionalising a whole-of-government approach to PNT resilience and NAVWAR, supported by clear governance structures and defined responsibilities. Building and connecting NAVWAR situational awareness through federated, unclassified and classified monitoring and reporting networks is essential to enable timely detection and response.
