Pentagon to Attack Enemies, Fight Wars – Without GPS?

By KRIS OSBORN – Warrior Maven

Since the days of the Gulf War debut of a host of new
precision weaponry and communications technology, the US military has increasing
developed GPS-dependent drones, satellites, force tracking systems and a wide
range of weapons.

While such things, such as Air Force Joint Direct Attack
Munitions for the Air Force, or the Army’s GPS-enabled Blue Force Tracking succeeded
in ushering in a new generation of advanced combat operations – in more recent
years potential adversaries have become adept at closing the technical gap with
the US. As part of this, the margin of US military technological superiority is
challenged, matched and, in some cases, outdone.

Advanced jamming techniques, electronic warfare and sophisticated
cyberattacks have radically altered the combat equation – making GPS signals
vulnerable to enemy disruption.

Accordingly, there is a broad consensus among military
developers and industry innovators that far too many necessary combat
technologies are reliant upon GPS systems. Weapons targeting, ship navigation
and even small handheld solider force-tracking systems all rely upon GPS signals
to operate.

​

​

As a result there is increased focus within the military
community on combat technologies that can provide what the military calls
positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for a wide range of systems.