Posted on 05/18/2010 8:54:10 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
military did no advance testing on a specific type of military GPS receiver that had problems picking up locator signals after a change in ground-control software, the Air Force said Monday.
The Air Force tested other equipment, but none of it contained the type of receiver that was unable to lock on to Global Positioning System satellites after the change, said Joe Davidson, a spokesman for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
The manufacturer of the receivers, Trimble Advanced and Military Systems, said it ran its own advance tests using specifications from the Air Force GPS Wing and found no problems.
"Once the upgrade (on the ground-control software) went live, the compatibility problems were immediately identified and Trimble worked with the GPS Wing to resolve them," Trimble spokeswoman Lea Ann McNabb said in an e-mail.
Davidson said earlier that the problem, which occurred in January, was identified in less than two weeks. A temporary fix was installed in all the receivers and a permanent fix is being distributed, he said.
Davidson said the Air Force's testers didn't have any copies of the affected receiver before the problem. The Air Force is now acquiring a more representative sample of the tens of thousands of GPS receivers in use, he said.
Officials would not say how many weapons or other systems were affected by the problem, but they said operations were halted in only one program as a precaution.
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This explains my wrong turn at Albuquerque.....
How vulnurable are all these systems, including the aircraft, to EMP?
AIr Force aircraft(such as the air launch control center) are hardened against EMP.The military GPS satellites are at high altitude are not as vulnerable.
I guess it wouldn't matter though. An EMP attack would devastate us.
AWACS definitely. I do not know the about the fighters. There are ways to protect yourself from an EMP attack. Maybe building a Faraday cage.Actually, electronic components already enjoy some form of shielding against electromagnetic interference. Federal Communications Commission standards require it.Upgrading to shield against an EMP would entail using more robust shielding materials, especially for the cords, cables, and/or wires that connect devices to external entities such as power supplies or networks. Cables and wires act as antennas through which an EMP travels directly into a device
Even if one survived, it would not be fun.
I guess people could wait for all the other benevolant countries of the world to come to our rescue./s
Shielding is built in to fighters to prevent EMP damage.
Other nations would be facing starvation and disease
I thought so, Thanks
I thought an EMP over the continental United States would only affect us, Canada and Mexico.
Yes
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