News

Financial Times: 

Published: February 23 2010 16:58

Critical infrastructure, including air traffic communications, electricity transmission, telecoms networks and emergency services are all under threat from the increasing availability of "GPS jammers", technology experts are warning.

"A portable jammer in a tall building could cover most of London and aircraft approaching its airports," said Professor David Last, a past president of the Royal Institute of Navigation and now a GPS consultant.

Global Positioning System signals, which are extremely delicate, are now relied upon by vital sectors, including transport, just-in-time manufacturing and farming.

By Mike M. Ahlers, 2/8/2010

In a series of small ceremonies, the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday afternoon will shut down Loran-C, a navigation and timing system that has guided mariners and aviators since World War II.

The death blow came last May when President Obama called the system obsolete, saying it is no longer needed in an age in which Global Positioning System devices are nearly ubiquitous in cars, planes and boats.

Killing Loran-C will save the government $190 million over five years, Obama said. But supporters of Loran -- including the man known as "the father of GPS" -- say the nation's increasing reliance on GPS paradoxically has increased the importance of maintaining Loran as a backup.

Supporters also argue that the mere existence of Loran makes the GPS satellite system a less attractive target for cyber-thugs, terrorists or future military adversaries.

GPS systems today are used not only for navigation, but also to provide precise timing for ATM machines, cell phone towers, water plants and other enterprises, and positioning information for precision-guided weapons for the military. GPS disruptions can be costly to business, dangerous for travelers, and debilitating to the military.

Supporters of Loran -- short for long range navigation system -- say the system is a near-perfect backup because it provides similar information to GPS, but has dissimilar infrastructure.

Inside GNSS: January 20, 2010

The Global Positioning System is vulnerable to threats such as jamming and anti-satellite weapons and the United States should reduce its dependence on the system while developing alternatives for precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), the U.S. Air Force's top military leader said Wednesday (January 20).

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz made the comments during his opening keynote address, "The United States as an Aerospace Nation: Challenges and Opportunities," at the Tuft University Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) Fletcher Conference on National Security Strategy and Policy. The 2010 conference's theme is "Air, Space, and Cyberspace Power in the 21 st Century ."