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Posted on 04/28/2025 9:49:42 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The West may be divided on tariffs, but all countries can agree that protecting global navigation satellite systems from interference from China, Russia and Iran is a matter of extreme importance. Disruptions would pose an immense economic and national security threat, costing trillions of dollars daily, dwarfing any market disruptions from tariffs.
Global navigation satellite systems are free services that send positioning, timing and navigation systems to phones, banks and other electric utilities. America has the global positioning system (GPS), Europe has Galileo and China has Bei Dou. But these systems are vulnerable. They depend on satellites, which can be damaged by electromagnetic storms or military attacks. Even with the satellites intact, hacking incidents proliferate, using inexpensive, easily available hardware.
Both China and Russia have shown that they have the capacity to take down Western satellites. The University of Texas student Zach Clements, meanwhile, has traced GPS manipulation to Iran.
The most famous example of hacking took place in 2019, when the British oil tanker Stena Impero was lured into Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz while its GPS, “spoofed” by the Iranians, told navigators it was in international waters. The ship was captured and its crew imprisoned in Iran for 10 weeks.
>>> American Innovation Can Counter Russia’s New Threat
GPS is vital, but hacking it has never been easier. The world would do well to heed warnings from Admiral Thad Allen, chairman of the US National Space-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, on the risks and challenges to the technology.
“Vulnerable to Disruption”
“A great many incidents over the past several years have left no doubt that the system is vulnerable to disruption, both inadvertent and intentional,” Admiral Allen said. “Because so much of our country’s critical infrastructure and supply chains rely on GPS, that infrastructure is itself vulnerable to disruption.”
He is also concerned that America’s GPS is now lagging the capabilities found in Galileo and Bei Dou. GPS needs more complementary back-up and a clearer chain of responsibility for making improvements.
In America, Congress has repeatedly asked the Department of Transportation to install a back-up to GPS, without allocating sufficient funds to do so. In addition, President Trump in his first term assigned government departments the task of assessing the resilience of their GPS systems. Other countries are also lacking sufficient back-ups.
Multiple technologies are available that could be used in the absence of GPS signals, including the use of AI to interpret sophisticated mapping and sensor data, terrestrial radio signals, fiber networks for timing, low-earth orbit satellites for encrypted signals, and Wi-Fi and mobile signals for localization. The UK is looking at quantum navigation, which uses atomic clocks and quantum sensors for timing and positioning.
Some GPS interference is unintentional. In 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration traced pilots’ loss of GPS signal over two days in Denver international airport to accidental transmissions from a government facility. A similar incident happened at Dallas Fort Worth airport later that year.
The Coast Guard collects reports of gaps in GPS coverage all over the world. Examples this year include ships in Finland, the Gulf of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Los Angeles. It’s also easy to spoof the GPS on your own phone, fudging your real locations for advantage. A program called iMyFoneAnyTo promises to “simulate GPS movement safely. Customize routes and speeds”.
>>> GPS: Technology That Truly Changed the World
When the first computers went on the market, no one saw a need for the now-ubiquitous anti-virus software. Similarly, GPS was free from hacking in its early days, but today it needs protection. Now the best way to protect GPS and satellite systems is to protect the spectrum, toughen the receivers that get signals, and have multiple sources of positioning, navigation and timing for verification.
The stakes are high. Globally, people use billions of GPS receivers in mobile phones, commercial trucks and buses, and railroads. Cars have navigation systems. Ships, planes and drones use GPS for navigation. Lorries use GPS not only for location services, but also for electronic logging devices, which show whether drivers have been driving for too long and are getting sleepy.
Emergency responders use GPS rather than maps to locate accident sites and get people to hospitals. You don’t want to be waiting for fire engines or ambulances when GPS is hacked or disrupted.
Companies also rely on GPS. Tractors reduce agricultural costs by pinpointing precise places to plant seeds, water and fertilize. Builders use GPS to do the same with nails and studs. Surveyors use GPS for measurements that are out of their line of sight, especially in waterways. Electric power plants rely on this technology to synchronize generators and distribute energy to the grid.
The global cost of GPS interference is too high for world governments to wait for it to fail. This is an area where like-minded governments can and should work together to develop reliable back-ups, both for economic and military security.
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Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
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I do use GPS navigation, but it is often good to have the old way with you too.
Also a compass.
By design.
Always good to able to us old fashioned navigation. The Sun can knockout all of our satellites y one coronal flare up.
Screw the Chicoms.
We are Terrifyingly Vulnerable to Chinese Hacking of GPS
Global navigation satellite systems are free services that send positioning, timing and navigation systems to phones, banks and other electric utilities. America has the global positioning system (GPS), Europe has Galileo and China has Bei Dou. But these systems are vulnerable. They depend on satellites, which can be damaged by electromagnetic storms or military attacks. Even with the satellites intact, hacking incidents proliferate, using inexpensive, easily available hardware.
gee, i’m shocked.
that’s nothing compared to how hosed we are if our military doesn’t stop allowing the chinese to infiltrate our tech
That was actually always going to be a flaw with personal computers; the OS and interface have to be good enough for the average consumer and not with such strict security that people didn’t want to use it. So they made they security weaker so the everyday person could use it.
Austin leading the way yet again.
This is how cruise missiles navigate via terrain contour matching but at a 21st century level of AI goodness vs 1970s tech. Cruise missiles had CEP of 20 metres using this method so with modern AI and sensors I would expect 5 meter or less CEPs
“Tern AI, based in Austin, Texas, has come up with a means of navigating without using satellites.
Tern AI combines proprietary Artificial Intelligence technology with detailed maps—the kind of maps people use for driving or hiking when no signal-based navigation systems are available—into software that can run on cell phones or car infotainment systems. Rather than getting information from a satellite in space, Tern AI relies on the fact that all roads are different and uses the motion of individual vehicles to determine on what road the vehicle is travelling.
The vehicle has a suite of sensors which is used with iPhone sensors to gather proprietary motion data, which AI uses to match the unique facets of the road. This is similar to facial recognition data, but for the Earth. The uniqueness of the Earth’s geography is detected through the motion of the car, which creates a 3-D path, matched to its position on the Earth.”
Never forget we had a backup to GPS , it was shutdown to save $50 million per year in operation cost by the big O during his regime.
The modern version is as accurate as GPS ANS and nearly impossible to jam locally.
https://www.gpsworld.com/eloran-part-of-the-solution-to-gnss-vulnerability/
The low earth orbit comms sats also can be used for PNT their signals are 1000s of times stronger than GPS and would be difficult to jam because of it and they work deep inside buildings too.
https://spacenews.com/iridium-exploring-small-satellites-to-advance-pnt-capabilities/
Starlink the SpaceX version has proven their directtocell works inside and too regular 5G handsets from orbit multiple times. They could just as easy embed a CDMA based PNT signal in one of the command bands , they also could embed it in their data bands for mobile starlink terminals too. They already need precision timing for doppler link budget and the CDMA epochs they only need to add in precision satellite position data, ephemeris data and UTC offset then you can trilaterate your position with just 3 sats and altitude from your phones barometer sensor. Or 4 without pressure altitude.
Yup someone already working on Starlink PNT even without a signal directly from them with ephemeris data. If Starlink added a full data message it only needs to be GPS like so 50 bits per second to one of the command channels you now have 4000+ navigation birds in the sky no way no how you shoot that many down. Russia knows this which is why they put nukes in space, that is what was just confirmed quietly that Russia has asat nukes already in orbit and it has the defence boffins rightfully mental about it.
https://www.ion.org/jnc/abstracts.cfm?paperID=15691
https://navi.ion.org/content/72/1/navi.685
What is old is new. This is from 2009 the DOD tested it and it worked very well. It allows carrier phase tracking in “challenging” environments with a encrypted Iridium signal it also is secure. Carrier phase is centimeter level accuracy too. The IGPS part also worked with just the Iridium signals using doppler hyperbolic lines of position just like the old Transit nav system you only need one bird visible with doppler nav if you have altitude via barometers.
https://www.ion.org/publications/abstract.cfm?articleID=102524
https://insidegnss.com/igps-program-reaches-two-milestones/
This type of PNT is not unique to Iridium every low earth orbit communications sat network could broadcast PNT data streams all you need is 50 bits per second of sat position data + ephemeris, UTC offsets, and WGS earth centered earth fixed geoid model. Every single LEO comms sat would then be part of the larger GPS community interchangeable at the trilateration level you need 3 of any network plus barometer or 4 without any four from any network if they all has WGS84 or the offsets from it and UTC offsets all would work equally. You only need one if you are stationary and have barometric pressure for doppler hyperbolic lines of position, if moving you need speed at a one knot accuracy level plus heading to one degree.
I’m gonna end up in Alabama instead of Maine!!
SpaceX Starlink, no more signals from them they used the timing data already transmitted which is needed for data link synchronization they also used published orbital data...20 second doppler hyperbolic fix, 2 meter accuracy and no GPS signal at all. If Starlink embedded a proper PNT data stream it only gets better carrier phase would give centimeter level fixes.
Again any of the LEO comms mega networks are all going to have to use similar timing signals and methods for doppler link budget and the data sync too. It’s when not if they all add PNT bit streams really. Having thousands of birds all squawking PNT data with thousands of times the power at ground level vs GPS or Galileo or GLONASS is good for humanity it means virtually impossible to jam PNT everywhere all the time.
Very few people can read a map. In fact, finding maps which used to be ubiquitous in gas stations across the country is impossible today.
You could bby a map via the USGS, they still sell topomaps. REI does as well.
As for road maps why? If you have a car you also have 12V power so your pocket supercomputer should never run down. Google maps will let you download and store as much map area as you want and entire state is on a few gigs of data a city is a couple hundred megs. Using it without GPS is a simple as finding the two cross streets you are at on the map and then zoom in or out and scroll to where you need to be. With downloaded map data no need to even do that just type your starting address could be a simple as a street name and block number look for a sign on any corner for this. Then ask it to plot a path to your destination also typed in. It will generate a path and turn by turn directions. Even without GPS you just click go and at each turn the next arrow jumps the path and instructions to the next turn point super simple. Only a real moron cannot follow turn by turn directions along a route and click next. That person is too stupid to operate a motor vehicle and should have their licence removed; seriously this kind of mouth breather is danger operating a 4000lb battering ram.
Maps are available at State interstate welcome centers for free. In our van we have a special rack containing all the various state maps.
I rely on WAZE. I find it not only free but superior to Garmin and Google. The interpretation of complex intersections on WAZE is much better than Google
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