Implementation Challenges

Building this structural PNT-SA function will confront several challenges that must be addressed to ensure successful implementation. These challenges span organizational, educational, technical, and cultural domains.

Fragmented Ownership

PNT services span public and private sectors, with little centralised command. Situational awareness requires data sharing and governance coordination that are difficult under the current fragmentation.

Lack of Institutional PNT-SA Literacy

Most infrastructure stakeholders are not trained in PNT principles, even if they have SA capabilities. They may monitor operational metrics without the PNT analysis and interpretation tools to understand threats beyond their domain.

Overconfidence in GNSS Redundancy

The proliferation of satellite constellations (e.g., GPS, Galileo, Beidou) is often mistaken for systemic resilience. However, without PNT-SA, users may fail to detect spoofing, jamming, or timing errors until damage has occurred.

Absence of Simulation Culture

Endsley emphasised the importance of mental models. In a macro-PNT context, these must be built through training and simulations—yet such exercises are rare in the PNT community.

Cultural Change Required

Overcoming these challenges requires cultural change, the development of a PNT situational awareness mindset that permeates not only engineering teams but also policy makers, regulators, and operational staff.

From Technical to Strategic

PNT-SA must be elevated from a technical detail to a strategic capability recognized at the highest levels of organizations and governments.

From Siloed to Integrated

Cross-sector coordination must replace the current siloed approach to PNT resilience, with shared protocols and communication channels.

From Reactive to Proactive

Organizations must shift from reacting to PNT disruptions to proactively modeling and preparing for them through simulation and training.

From Expert-Only to Accessible

PNT-SA tools and insights must be made accessible to non-experts through user-centric design and role-specific information presentation.