|
|
|
|
|
|
GPS Technology to Aid Third World Cruise Missile Development May 3, 2000 President Clinton April 28 announced an end to the Pentagon's practice of intentionally degrading the signal available to civil users of the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS), as sources had previously indicated he would do. The change enables civilian GPS users "to pinpoint locations up to 10 times more accurately than they do now," the president said. Until now, civilians using a U.S.-built network of satellites for navigation got a less accurate reading than the military because of concern that enemies could use the system to target missiles. The White House pegged the value of the GPS market at $8 billion today and predicted it would double to $16 billion in three years. Clinton's decision to provide higher-accuracy GPS signals to all users worldwide comes just a week before member nations of the International Telecommunications Union meet in Turkey for the World Administrative Radio Conference. The Clinton administration says it needs additional spectrum to support transmission of two new civil GPS signals. But commercial mobile satellite systems operators and a new, satellite-based positioning system backed by the European Union are angling for the same spectrum. Clinton's order release the more accurate data should help the administration in arguing for the additional frequency spectrum. When the Department of Defense started launching GPS satellites in the 1980s, it provided two classes of service: signals with an accuracy of 10 to 20 meters for military users and a degraded signal available to civil users with accuracy of 100 meters. That policy was meant to prevent enemies from using the GPS technology to launch attacks against U.S. forces or targets. Clinton's decision means that, from now on, civil users will benefit from the same GPS accuracy as military users -- a change that a White House briefing paper claimed "will bring instant benefits to millions of GPS users." GPS receivers range in price from $100 units toted by hikers to systems with price tags in the multiple thousands of dollars used by surveyors to gauge everything from the height of the Washington Monument, and to even more advanced GPS systems used by earthquake forecasters to track the movement of tectonic plates in California and other regions. Clinton claimed the decision to discontinue degradation of the civil GPS signal was based on a threat assessment that providing increased accuracy to nonmilitary users worldwide "would have minimal impact on national security." The system of two dozen U.S. satellites is free, but all kinds of businesses profit from it. Commercial interests have long asked the government to loosen its hold on the most accurate GPS information, but officials claimed outside pressure was not a factor in the decision. The U.S. military will still use an encrypted, highly accurate version of the system for guiding precision weaponry such as the missiles used in the Gulf War and last year's Balkan air strikes. This will allow the military to jam an enemy's use of GPS while preserving its own use. Despite the administrations claims, however, civil use of GPS does not require the high accuracy that is now available. The chief beneficiary will be foreign makers of cruise missiles, which, unlike ballistic missiles, must be guided all the way to the target. Cruise missiles are generally cheaper than ballistic missiles but, due to the targeting problem, have only been manufactured by the superpowers. The release of the highly accurate GPS data will allow third world countries to build and acquire cruise missiles at low cost. While U.S. forces could usually jam the GPS signals to prevent enemy use of cruise missiles against American soldiers, this would not prevent their use against other third world countries. In addition, jamming would not be effective against a surprise attack.
© 2000 TruthNews. All Rights Reserved. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
|
|
