Wartime GPS blackout?

The Pentagon has told New Scientist it will not implement a global GPS blackout for civilian users if war starts in Iraq, as seems increasingly likely.

"We would not create a global problem for transport out of spite for Saddam," says a spokesman at the US Department of Defense. However, he admitted that the US military does have the capability to jam civilian GPS signals regionally, and did not rule this option out.

A blockade of non-military GPS access in the "theatre of war" could significantly hinder the capabilities of Iraqi forces. But millions of civilian users depend on the US-controlled network of 27 global positioning satellites, in activities including shipping, transportation and power transmission.

Any sudden GPS blackout would trigger chaos, say experts. It might also help break the deadlock in negotiations over Europe's proposed rival to GPS, Galileo. This 30-satellite system would be run for entirely civilian purposes. If agreement is reached it could be operational by 2008 at a cost of $2.8 billion.

Posted by David on March 7, 2003 9:31 PM