EAB Q&A: GPS Use in U.S. Infrastructure and PNT EAB Q&A: GPS Use in U.S. Infrastructure and PNT Services
What steps have been taken to support the use of GPS in critical U.S. infrastructure?
GPS vulnerabilities have been widely reported in the press. To address this, President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience on April 30. Despite the critical role GPS plays in infrastructure operations and some sectors considering their own backups, the federal government has done little beyond conducting studies and meetings. In fact, the government is currently dismantling the Loran system, even though Enhanced Loran (eLoran) is a viable and affordable GPS backup recommended by former Deputy Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Given the importance of GPS and PNT services, it is puzzling why such a viable solution is being overlooked.
By— Jules McNeff, Overlook Systems Technologies
Will GPS remain the gold standard for space-based PNT services in the foreseeable future?
GPS has been the gold standard for global space-based PNT services since its inception, thanks to the stable, transparent, and consistent policies maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Air Force (now Space Force). These efforts have included continuous performance improvements for all users. However, the future of GPS is threatened by foreign competition, hostile threats, budgetary constraints, management restructuring, fragmentation, dilution of corporate memory, and inconsistent leadership support. The continued excellence of GPS in the global PNT enterprise now depends entirely on federal leadership.
By — Jules McNeff, Overlook Systems Technologies