Northrop Grumman Mission Systems · JPEO A&A
SERGEANT
Software Enabled Reconfigurable GNSS Embedded Architecture for Navigation and Timing
A modular, software-defined GNSS receiver framework for modernized Precision Guided Munitions.
SERGEANT is a software and firmware framework for parallel, DSP-intensive GNSS signal processing. It pairs real-time embedded software running on application cores with programmable-logic acceleration for the most demanding signal processing functions.
SERGEANT runs on MAGNOM — an entirely COTS-based, modular hardware architecture designed to accept upgrades in processing, logic, and RF cores without churning the application software. The combination is built to survive the obsolescence risks that have constrained the previous generation of purpose-built navigation ASICs.
The framework exposes an open-systems foundation with documented interfaces, giving integrators the ability to replace modules and integrate third-party applications — mitigating vendor-lock and keeping the upgrade path open for future signal modes and algorithms.
PNT challenges
What SERGEANT is built to answer
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Minimize dependence on GPS
Reduce the platform's reliance on a single space-based signal source through sensor fusion, alternate signals of opportunity, and non-radio navigation.
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Outpace threats to GPS
Match the tempo of GPS-denial and spoofing threats with modernized signal modes, adaptive anti-jam, anti-spoof, and cognitive navigation warfare.
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Counter near-peer resources
Assume contested electromagnetic environments. Build PNT systems that hold under adversary investment in navigation warfare.
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Platform coherence
Share a common grid and common timebase across a platform's sensors and effectors — navigation as an integrated capability, not a bolt-on.
Platform
MAGNOM
Multi-Element Anti-Jam GNSS Technology for Navigation Operations and Monitoring
MAGNOM is the hardware side of the SERGEANT/MAGNOM pair — an entirely COTS-based, modular GNSS receiver platform developed by Northrop Grumman over the past decade. The design is deliberately obsolescence-resistant: processing, logic, and RF cores can be refreshed independently, without affecting the application software that runs on top of SERGEANT.
Platform detail →Explore
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Platform →
MAGNOM — the COTS-based, modular hardware architecture SERGEANT runs on.
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Architecture →
The SERGEANT software framework — components, interfaces, and the open-systems foundation.
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Components →
Channel Controller, PVT Provider, Satellite Manager, and the rest of the component set.
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SDK →
Developer guide — configuration, tutorials, and third-party application integration.
Program: PGM SDRx Prototype · Customer: Joint Program Executive Office, Armaments & Ammunition