GPS shutdown in case of terrorism
 

I assume that foreign misssiles use GPS to navigate, so this is smart move,
except that Russia also has a GPS system independent of ours. I suspect that
Russia would also shutdown in crisis, leaving aircraft and ships to rely on
their old sextants and RDFs.


WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling
the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to
prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said
Wednesday.

Any shutdown of the network inside the United States would come under only the
most remarkable circumstances, said a Bush administration official who spoke to
a small group of reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity.

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.

On 16 Dec 2004 11:41:34 GMT, (Radioman390) wrote:

I assume that foreign misssiles use GPS to navigate, so this is smart move,
except that Russia also has a GPS system independent of ours. I suspect that
Russia would also shutdown in crisis, leaving aircraft and ships to rely on
their old sextants and RDFs.


WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling
the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to
prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said
Wednesday.

Any shutdown of the network inside the United States would come under only the
most remarkable circumstances, said a Bush administration official who spoke to
a small group of reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity.

David wrote:

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.


They also use airplanes, and as I recall, news reports indicated the terrorists of 9/11 used GPS to home in on their targets.

Turning off the GPS system if a plane gets hijacked may buy enough time for a military intercept. Seems like a good idea to me.

Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:41:17 -0500, "Mark S. Holden"
wrote:

David wrote:

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.


They also use airplanes, and as I recall, news reports indicated the terrorists of 9/11 used GPS to home in on their targets.

Turning off the GPS system if a plane gets hijacked may buy enough time for a military intercept. Seems like a good idea to me.

David wrote:

Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:41:17 -0500, "Mark S. Holden"
wrote:


David wrote:

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.


They also use airplanes, and as I recall, news reports indicated the terrorists of 9/11 used GPS to home in on their targets.

Turning off the GPS system if a plane gets hijacked may buy enough time for a military intercept. Seems like a good idea to me.


The Bush corporate cronies don't make any money selling any ANTI box
cutter systems to the Feds. They make money by selling them expensive
stuff like anti missile systems. The corporate/government corruption
matrix is SO intertwined now that it's almost impossible to get out of it.

Check out the recent Boeing corruption scandal, with government reps
standing to gain immensely from all the contracts being awarded to the
contractor. If terrorism didn't exist, Business would have to invent
it. It's just plain Good For Business.

'Rogue States'...good grief!



mike

Seems like a good idea to me too, but why announce this now and not
three years ago?

Bruce

David wrote:

Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?


With a GPS, you don't need to know much about navigation - you can go to your target, tell it to remember that spot, and then the GPS will give you an arrow pointing back to that spot from wherever you are so you can get back there. (handy for finding a
favorite fishing hole, or for not getting lost in the woods)

I'm not an expert on aircraft navigation, but I imagine fifteen or twenty minutes of life without a functional GPS would cause less chaos than having a jet smack into a crowded building.


On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:41:17 -0500, "Mark S. Holden"
wrote:

David wrote:

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.


They also use airplanes, and as I recall, news reports indicated the terrorists of 9/11 used GPS to home in on their targets.

Turning off the GPS system if a plane gets hijacked may buy enough time for a military intercept. Seems like a good idea to me.

"Mark S. Holden" wrote:

David wrote:

Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?


With a GPS, you don't need to know much about navigation - you can go to your target, tell it to remember that spot, and then the GPS will give you an arrow pointing back to that spot from wherever you are so you can get back there. (handy for finding a
favorite fishing hole, or for not getting lost in the woods)

I'm not an expert on aircraft navigation, but I imagine fifteen or twenty minutes of life without a functional GPS would cause less chaos than having a jet smack into a crowded building.

Ask M II, he's an expert on most anything. He is, after all, Canadian.

He's worse than a 'rogue state', he's a rogue 'tard boy, much like that David fellow.

Both of them need to spend less time with the 'puter, and more time out in the great outdoors toting their portables.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Mark S. Holden wrote:
David wrote:

Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?



With a GPS, you don't need to know much about navigation - you can go to your target, tell it to remember that spot, and then the GPS will give you an arrow pointing back to that spot from wherever you are so you can get back there. (handy for finding a
favorite fishing hole, or for not getting lost in the woods)

I'm not an expert on aircraft navigation, but I imagine fifteen or twenty minutes of life without a functional GPS would cause less chaos than having a jet smack into a crowded building.



On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:41:17 -0500, "Mark S. Holden"
wrote:


David wrote:

The enemy uses box cutters, not missiles.


They also use airplanes, and as I recall, news reports indicated the terrorists of 9/11 used GPS to home in on their targets.

Turning off the GPS system if a plane gets hijacked may buy enough time for a military intercept. Seems like a good idea to me.
A licensed pilot will not have a major problem if the GPS is turned
off... they are required to be able to navigate without it. A half
trained terrorist on the other hand may have to rely on the GPS
technology instead of the other, more difficult to master navigation
methods.

"David" wrote in message
...
Shutting down GPS would create a lot of chaos. Do airplanes not come
with tunable RDF any more? VOR?

Virtually every plane still has VOR, and will for some time. GPS is still
not 100% dependable, and there are restrictions as to when it can be used.