Russia has, it seems, been jamming GPS in Ukraine and iirc along the border.
I presume the US could stop the sending of GPS signals by satellites that serve Russia, although doing so would also stop if for countries south of Russia. It might well be worth it. There is way to target such a stoppage, is there?
GPS signals are almost? totally American that it lets the rest of the world use for free.
SAT Wars coming soon to a planet near you. < spoiler alert - China wins >
John T.
I seriously doubt that Russia jammed GPS in Ukraine by disabling our GPS satellites. Much too provocative. More likely, they're broadcasting competing high powered signals on the same frequencies used by our GPS satellites. When what's now Russia was part of the USSR, and pre-internet/www, the U.S. transmitted news and information to the citizens of the USSR via short wave radio (Voice of America and Radio Free Europe). The soviets jammed those signals too, with high powered transmitters sending noise on the same frequencies used by VOA and RFE.
Note that there are three global positioning systems in orbit; Navstar, Galileo and Glonass. It's just as likely that Ukraine, given the heritage of their military equipment, primarily used Glonass rather than the two western systems.
Interesting kind of related thing. About twenty years ago, GPS was not nearly as accurate, only good to like 100ft accuracy or so. And that was not because it was not capable of higher accuracy, at the time I think it was like 15 ft, but the system would not allow it because the military, which had the higher accuracy, did not want others to have it. At least that was the official story back then. Back then, if the GPS wanted you to make a turn and instead you went on, you had to go maybe 100 ft or more before the GPS would realize it, beep and work on new instructions. Now it happens in a much shorter distance, maybe only 25 ft or so.
It was called "Selective Availability"
The "american style" drones and smart bombs use GPS for targeting. Not sure about the Turkish ones but I suspect being a NATO country they do. Jamming the GPS signals makes much of the high-tech weaponry either useless or greatly crippled. Doesn'r affect the Rusky stuff because they use a different system to target kids and civilians, the skurvy dogs.
Just like the US jammed Radio Havana...
And before GPS it was LORAN - short for Long Range Navigation.
I was a LORAN-C transmitter tech and instructor in the late 70's when the USCG was responsible for the system. It was used globally for ships and aircraft.
"System Components Loran-C combined two different techniques, multilateration and phase shift, to provide a signal that was both long-range and highly accurate. Components of the system included a ship or aircraft borne receiver and multiple chains of Master and Secondary transmitter sites. At the peak of operation, there were nearly 30 individual transmission chains, each consisting of 3 to 6 beacons."
Here's the demolition of one of the last LORAN-C towers, a 1/4 mile high tower in Port Clarence, AK. In some of the views you'll see a building at the base of the tower and then another set of buildings just over 1/4 mile away. I worked in the building at the base of the tower and lived in the buildings up the road. The 1/4 mile separation was to ensure that the tower wouldn't land on the main part of the station if it ever fell in that direction. The 2 or 3 techs in the T-bldg (including me) were expendable, compared to the 30 -35 that worked and lived up the road. ;-)
Bingo. Thanks for that, it explains it.
Selective Availability (SA) was an intentional degradation of public GPS signals implemented for national security reasons.
In May 2000, at the direction of President Bill Clinton, the U.S government discontinued its use of Selective Availability in order to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users worldwide.
True but not relevant to the current thread.
Why does the U.S. depend on China and other non-allies to supply us with the rare earth metals that are essential to our high tech? Ans. We drank the cool-aide of "globalization" to an extreme extent. I suspect that just as there's a sweet spot for optimal balance between capitalism to provide incentive and government limits to prevent the largest businesses from inhibiting all competition, there's a sweet spot between unlimited reliance on global trade and extreme isolationist behavior.
Actually not relevant _and_ not true.
On the other hand, the CCCP did jam VOA for thirty three years.
Because the USA doesn't have the raw materials in sufficient quantities.
And because refining them economically produces significant quantities of toxic substances.
No one claimed that Radio Moscow was jammed by the US. You seem to enjoy making gratuitous comments. No other way to find pleasure in life?
You are right about the refining but I believe they are available if we wanted to get them.
From what I hear about China, we would do a much cleaner job of refining them.
Neighbor that has been to China several times says there is not a city you can breath in.
Because the oligarchs that control the US are only interested in making money? The US could come very close to being an autarky. If The sanctions and seizures are doing anything it is illustrating the dangers of globalism.
He might be exaggerating just a bit. China is a pretty big country.
There's the irony. In part environmental restrictions caused copper mining operations to move to Latin America countries that are known for their environmental sensitivity. Mexican pollution is Mexico's problem, right? Too bad atmospheric circulation is the original globalism.
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