Dead reckoning: experts warn of looming threat to nation's GPS - InvestigateTV
What's new: Coverage of the issue by Gray Media which owns 113 TV stations (which all have news rooms) across the US.
Why it's important: One way to improve awareness among senior leaders who can fix the problem is by educating the public.
What else to know: The reporter, Brendan Keefe, attended the most recent meeting of the PNT Advisory Board to do the interviews and filming.
Dead reckoning: experts warn of looming threat to nation’s GPS
Jamming and spoofing of navigation and timing signals threaten the American economy
Published: Dec. 16, 2024 at 12:33 PM EST
Redondo Beach, Calif. (InvestigateTV) - The U.S. economy depends on 31 satellites orbiting the Earth that form the global positioning system (GPS).
Developed half a century ago for the military, GPS is now used daily by more than seven billion devices worldwide. It’s inside your phone; inside your car; and in the cockpit of every airliner.
GPS is also the ultra-precise clock by which the stock market times every trade; the power grid synchronizes generating stations; cell phones operate; and supplies get delivered to stores or your house.
“The GPS utility and usefulness has kind of crept into society and the average citizen doesn’t ever see it,” said Brad Parkinson, who developed GPS for the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s. “They don’t realize the harm that would be done if it suddenly weren’t."
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Sr. Engineer at WATTS ANTENNA COMPANY
2 个月Dana, I hope that what you say is true here. I too believe this, however, the actions of those responsible for determining the fate of both enroute and landing systems in aviation has consistently been to prematurely do away with legacy systems like LORAN / eLORAN and ILS and others? etc. as much as possible in favor of GNSS promises and capabilities, again in both Enroute and Landing that have gone unfulfilled. They have effectively starved the operational and developmental funding and let these systems infrastructures whither on the vine. I simply think we need to return investment today to that which worked best, and with advancements, sometimes even better, prior to the current vulnerabilities. A Star-Trek like transporter system would be fantastic, but if it is vulnerable to jamming or spoofing, I for one, don't want that ride just yet.
Sr. Engineer at WATTS ANTENNA COMPANY
2 个月Dana, let me first thank you and others like you for making everyone aware of the negative impacts to PNT Globally from Jamming and Spoofing of GNSS. Let me also request of the experts, who are raising the alarms, the following. Either before, or simultaneously, to diligently researching and looking for new solutions to these problems, let us consider that there may already exist tried and proven solutions to some of these problems. For instance, for spoofing and jamming of GPS / GNSS around airports, there are already Advanced ILS Antennas that have unique characteristics and performance benefits not found in standard ILS antennas. They are ready to be fielded NOW, not LATER after a solution may be found. This was the story of the FAAs Next Gen promises ... "wait for Next Gen". Well ... the situation is increasingly dire, and the World can no longer wait for unfulfilled promises, nor can it wait for the Jamming and Spoofing to stop. Let us be prudent and start using what works NOW rather than LATER where possible. Thank you for all your efforts in this important matter.