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GPS Goes to War (Again)
Edited for brevityThe Global Positioning System started out decades ago as a satellite-based network for military location and navigation, but in the past few years itâs spawned a host of civilian applications â including high-tech direction-finders for automobiles and hikers. Now GPS is going to war again, raising questions about what happens on the homefront. THE U.S. MILITARY is using GPS as the backbone for its battlefield communication system, as well as the guidance system for a wide array of "smart bombsâ â including the "Mother of All Bombsâ. Such satellite-based guidance systems arenât foolproof, as was demonstrated during the Afghan war, but theyâre considered far less vulnerable to the smoke and fog of war than the laser-guided munitions that played such a large role in the first Gulf War. All this makes the GPS network, which relies on radio readings from a constellation of 27 orbiting satellites, a powerful weapon â and a potential target â during any war in Iraq. Iraqi forces may well try jamming GPS signals, or âspoofingâ GPS transmissions to lead the invading forces astray. Saddam Husseinâs troops also may be using GPS, or Russiaâs less capable Glonass satellite navigation system, for their own purposes. On Slashdot and other forums, GPS users have been debating whether the U.S. military will be âdumbing downâ the satellite readings for civilians, as it once did. Until three years ago, civilian GPS readings were accurate only to a resolution of a football field or so â and thatâs not good enough for todayâs high-precision applications. Back in 2000, the U.S. military said it wouldnât go back to the bad old days of âintentional degradationâ of GPS signals. Instead, it would use more targeted tactics, including selective signal-jamming in the theater of military operations. âPeople outside the theater can expect to use GPS as they have. ... Of course, national security overrides any statement that may have been made,â Langley said. Good news--your GPS toys here should continue to work normally. Bad news--The many GIs using civilian GPSRs (GPS Receivers), like Garmin and Margellan models, might be disappointed. Posted by: Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-19 |
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