Elsight Unveils Cellular-Based Positioning System for Drones Operating Without GPS at AUSA 2026

Elsight has introduced a new positioning technology designed to keep drones, autonomous ground vehicles, and uncrewed maritime platforms accurately located when GPS signals are jammed, spoofed, or unavailable. Announced on October 12 at AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C., the solution uses cellular network measurements and multiple sensor inputs to provide an alternative to conventional satellite navigation.
The new capability, called Positioning, is integrated into Elsight’s Halo platform, which already provides resilient communications for uncrewed systems. Rather than introducing a separate navigation device, the company is extending its existing connectivity hardware with software-based positioning and GPS spoofing detection.
The development addresses a critical limitation of autonomous operations in electronically contested environments: maintaining reliable knowledge of a vehicle’s geographical position when satellite navigation can no longer be trusted.

Cellular Positioning Without GPS

Unlike conventional GNSS receivers that calculate coordinates from satellite signals, Elsight’s technology uses terrestrial cellular infrastructure as an independent source of positioning information.
Its patented positioning architecture incorporates measurements from surrounding cellular base stations, including Timing Advance (TA), a parameter associated with signal propagation time between a mobile device and a cellular network.
Timing Advance can provide information related to the distance between a device and a serving base station. When combined with measurements from multiple cellular sites and additional motion data, it can contribute to estimating the device’s geographical position.
Elsight’s system uses a multi-source fusion engine that continuously evaluates available positioning inputs:

• Cellular Timing Advance measurements.
• Signals and measurements associated with surrounding cellular base stations.
• GPS positioning data when considered reliable.
• Vehicle motion and velocity vectors.

During normal operations, GPS remains the primary positioning source. If satellite signals become unreliable, the system can use cellular-derived positioning and other available inputs to maintain location awareness.
The important distinction is that cellular positioning can provide an external geographical reference rather than relying exclusively on estimating movement from a previously known location.

GPS Spoofing Detection

One of the new system’s most significant capabilities is active GPS spoofing detection.
GPS spoofing occurs when a receiver is exposed to counterfeit satellite signals intended to produce an incorrect position. Unlike conventional jamming, which generally disrupts reception, spoofing can cause a navigation system to report plausible but false coordinates.
Elsight addresses this problem by continuously comparing GNSS-derived coordinates with an independently estimated position obtained from cellular network measurements.
If the two positioning sources diverge beyond a predefined threshold, the software generates an alert indicating possible GPS manipulation.
This approach provides a practical advantage because it does not depend entirely on recognizing suspicious characteristics within the satellite signals themselves. Instead, it checks whether the reported GPS position agrees with a different positioning system.
However, a disagreement between cellular and GNSS coordinates does not automatically establish that spoofing has occurred. Multipath propagation, limited cellular coverage, and errors in the terrestrial position estimate can also produce discrepancies. Effective detection therefore depends on appropriate thresholds and the accuracy of both positioning sources.

Halo Hardware Integration

Positioning is designed to operate within Elsight’s existing Halo architecture, allowing current customers to activate the capability without installing additional positioning hardware.
According to Elsight’s published product specifications, the Halo platform has the following specs:

These weight and power figures describe the Halo platform, not a separately characterized Positioning module.

Halo uses multi-link bonding to combine available communications paths into a single connectivity layer. Rather than relying exclusively on a primary link with a backup connection, the platform can maintain multiple network paths simultaneously.
The new Positioning feature extends this architecture into navigation, potentially allowing the same hardware to support communications resilience and independent geographical positioning.
Elsight also states that positioning can function without an active internet connection, external communications link, visual reference, or GPS. These claims should not be interpreted as proof that accurate cellular-based positioning remains available without detectable cellular signals. The company has not publicly detailed how its system maintains absolute coordinates when every external positioning reference is absent.

Navigation Accuracy Questions

Elsight describes its new technology as providing high-precision geographical positioning, but its October 12 announcement does not disclose several measurements needed to assess its performance.
The company has not published a specific horizontal positioning accuracy in meters, a 95% confidence error, or detailed results comparing performance under different cellular network conditions.
Other undisclosed technical parameters include positioning update frequency, maximum supported vehicle speed, initialization requirements, and performance when only one cellular base station is detectable.
These omissions are particularly relevant because cellular positioning accuracy depends heavily on the surrounding radio environment. Base station geometry, signal reflections, network synchronization, and the availability of independent measurements can all affect the resulting position.
Dense terrestrial cellular coverage may offer a greater range of usable measurements than remote regions, while maritime environments and areas with damaged infrastructure present different challenges.
For autonomous aircraft, vertical positioning accuracy is another important consideration. The announcement does not specify whether the new system independently estimates altitude or relies on other onboard navigation sensors.

Absolute Position vs. Dead Reckoning

The most interesting aspect of Elsight’s announcement is its attempt to solve a weakness shared by many alternative navigation methods: accumulated positioning error.
Inertial navigation systems estimate movement using acceleration and angular-rate measurements. Without external corrections, small measurement errors accumulate over time, causing the estimated position to drift.
Visual odometry and other relative navigation techniques face similar challenges, although their performance depends on the sensors, algorithms, and operating environment.
Elsight’s cellular approach offers a different possibility. If a system can repeatedly derive reliable geographical coordinates from terrestrial radio infrastructure, it may constrain accumulated navigation drift without requiring GNSS.
This makes the technology potentially valuable as an additional positioning reference for autonomous platforms.
There is, however, an important technical distinction between providing absolute coordinates and guaranteeing high precision. A cellular-derived position can be geographically referenced while still having an error large enough to limit precise navigation.
The strongest application for Elsight’s technology may therefore be sensor fusion rather than complete replacement of existing navigation equipment. Combining cellular-derived coordinates with inertial measurements and other available sensors could produce a more resilient navigation system than any individual source.
Another consideration is infrastructure dependence. Cellular positioning avoids reliance on satellite navigation signals, but its performance remains connected to the availability and quality of terrestrial radio measurements. It is not equivalent to fully infrastructure-independent navigation.
The technology is promising because it introduces an additional independent source of positioning information. Its operational value will ultimately depend on demonstrated accuracy, continuity, and resistance to interference under realistic conditions.
Independent performance data would be especially useful for determining whether the system is suitable primarily for maintaining general location awareness or can also support navigation tasks requiring tighter positioning tolerances.

Elsight Expands Defense Presence

The Positioning announcement follows several developments in Elsight’s defense business during 2026.
In April, the company announced that Halo had been added to the U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency’s Blue UAS List, supporting procurement opportunities involving vetted uncrewed-system technologies.
In August, Elsight announced an expansion of manufacturing operations in the United States and Germany to support defense supply-chain requirements.
The company subsequently announced Halo’s listing on the U.S. Army’s UAS Marketplace in September, following a Basic Ordering Agreement with the Army.
These developments indicate that Elsight is positioning Halo as a broader mission-support platform rather than only a communications product. Adding navigation capability creates another potential application for existing hardware deployed across autonomous fleets.

About Elsight

Elsight is a publicly traded technology company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX: ELS. The company develops connectivity and mission-enablement technology for uncrewed aerial, ground, and maritime systems, serving defense organizations, autonomous platform manufacturers, and public safety operators.
Its flagship Halo platform has accumulated more than 500,000 operational hours across 100+ customers worldwide, according to company figures. Elsight identifies Halo as a Technology Readiness Level 9 product and reports Blue UAS listing and NDAA compliance. The company is expanding its manufacturing presence in the United States and Germany while developing additional capabilities for its existing hardware platform.