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The Pentagon Can't Trust GPS Anymore

32 points by jonbaer

by mikewarot

1 subcomments

I was with a friend visiting O'hare approach control outside Chicago. As with our previous visit to the Regional air traffic control, I was there mostly to give my friend a ride. However, on this visit I asked a question when the opportunity arose
"What would you do if GPS went out, permanently?"
The whole room collectively didn't want to think about it. There doesn't appear to be a plan. We've collectively put all our eggs in one basket.

by throw0101a

1 subcomments

by bob1029

1 subcomments

GPS has been getting better over time. The newest iteration of the system supports a directional spot beam for military users with +20dB gain for theater-level jamming resistance.
A +20dB gain means that the jammer is going to need roughly 100x its current power output to maintain the same effectiveness. An adversary ramping their transmitter by this much would turn into a blazing hot target in terms of electronic warfare. There are entire classes of weapons designed to lock directly onto signals like this. The AGM-88 is an example.

by shevy-java

3 subcomments

And we can't trust the Pentago anymore, so the circle is completed (see the recent "Ukraine deal" which is basically just a sell-out toward the USA allying with Russia).

by neuralkoi

0 subcomment

I wonder if this changes the old adage, now that the missile knows where it is at all times. [0]
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZe5J8SVCYQ

0 subcomment

by bariumbitmap

0 subcomment

by jszymborski

4 subcomments

I was under the impression that thr US Military doesn't use GPS; that it was a civilian thing and that they had something more precise and secure.

0 subcomment

by standardUser

1 subcomments

by jmclnx

1 subcomments

I remember reading something about defunding some satellites, so I went looking. All I could find is articles about the US not providing backup satellites.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/27/nx-s1-5127737/losing-gps-woul...
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/money-report/losing...

by phplovesong

2 subcomments

by chasing0entropy

1 subcomments

Fabulously complicated and only producible with exotic emitters, sensors, and high frequency ICs. Probably as easily jammed or forced into calibration state with a directed low frequency em pulse generator. High tech garbage. We will not fare any better than Ukraine relying on tech like this.
Fortunately someone recently posted a real technological wonder - the F-14 cpu, old timers were messing with multithreaded compute while I was muddling along learning pong line by line from a hobbyist magazine.