Our U.S. Military Depends on GPS for Equipment Tracking

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/tisSG)
by Harriette Halepis

Source acquired via Associated Press, June 4, 2010, Denver, Colorado – Last week, 10,000 GPS receivers that the U.S. military relies upon stopped working. More than 100 armoured vehicles, aircraft carriers, ships, and other types of defense systems use GPS Tracking technology. When the power went out the United States Air Force was left scrambling.

[caption id="attachment_1143" align="alignright" width="400" caption="The Military and GPS Tracking"][/caption]

John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, related to press just how serious the situation was. When it comes to the U.S. military, “…everything that moves…” moves with the help of GPS technology. In fact, GPS technology “…is so central to the American style of war that you just couldn’t leave home without it.” When questioned by members of the press, a spokesperson for the military stated that the military as a whole is “…extremely confident in the safety and security of the GPS system from enemy attack.”

This statement was made based upon the fact that learning how to cripple the GPS technology that the U.S. military relies upon could also cripple the military itself – something that many U.S. enemies would love to accomplish. During the 2003 Iraqi invasion, a device was used to jam the GPS technology that the U.S military uses. In order to dislodge this device, the military used a GPS-guided bomb to eliminate the device.

A spokesperson for the U.S military went on to tell press that human error was the military’s main concern when it comes to GPS technology. By entering the wrong coordinates, soldiers and missiles alike can be sent to incorrect areas -- a blunder that has happened once or twice. While there’s no doubt that human error can occur, many are still sceptical as to the reliability of the GPS technology that the military currently uses.

As was made evident this past month, the military is essentially motionless unless all GPS systems are functioning. Still, the military assures the general public that “since GPS’ inception, there has never been a breach of GPS.” The glitch that occurred last week took military experts nearly two weeks to fix, thought the exact problem has not yet been determined. More information regarding the incident is expected to surface within the next few months.