Next message: Lew Hodgett: "Re: lv-ab: Jamming of GPS Is Opposed"
writes:
> In a message dated 3/13/99 8:37:49 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> writes:
>
> > f anyone believes that the US is not going to shut down the GPS, in the
> > event that a conflict heats up with a nation or terrorist group that has
> > missle capabilites, he or she is naive.
>
> Howard might be correct, and I might be naive -- but I am not convinced that
> the US will shut down the GPS system in case of conflict. In the first place,
> the military has a whole lot depending on the GPS system. In addition to that,
> everything from the banking industry to the power industry is using GPS as an
> integral part of their operations. It is hard to imagine the chaos that would
> result if GPS were shut down.
In fact, if anything, ironically, the record shows that S/A was
disabled for Desert Storm and, I believe, Grenada or Panama. At the
time of these operations, there were not enough militarized GPS
receivers in the field; S/A was disabled to allow civilian units,
rushed into the field, to function at the same level as military
receivers. This isn't likely to happen again but it speaks to the
level of dependence on GPS in the US military.
Keep in mind, too, that many munitions now rely heavily on GPS for
system position as well as target position information. Turning off
or disabling GPS would also reduce the performance and reliability of
not just bombs and missiles but ground forces as well as aircraft and
ships.
The current landing systems for civilian commercial aircraft are
either obsolete or close to it. The US Dept. of Commerce (DoC) is
pushing a GPS-based precision landing system for use in worldwide
commercial aviation. The system is meeting resistance specifically
because many governments are unwilling to allow commercial aviation to
be controlled so directly by the US Dept. of Defense's (DoD) ability
to control the availability of basic GPS positioning service. Since
the acceptance of this system represents a significant cash value to
the US economy both short and long term, DoC is pushing hard to ensure
basic GPS positioning service will remain available at all times.
As many USCG documents point out, over and over, reliance on any one
aid to navigation (e.g., GPS) is imprudent. Failures or abscence of
service do not need to originate within GPS command and control but
can occur because of battery failure, receiver malfunction, or antenna
obstruction. Betting everything on GPS is just not smart. However,
it's reasonable to believe that the service, if not the receiver, will
continue to operate in almost all foreseeable circumstances.
Rick
S/V One With The Wind, Baba 35
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