military GPS problems

[+va griz]

Glitch shows how much US military relies on GPS By DAN ELLIOTT (AP) – 1 day ago DENVER — A problem that rendered as many as 10,000 U.S. military GPS receivers useless for days is a warning to safeguard a system that enemies would love to disrupt, a defense expert says. The Air Force has not said how many weapons, planes or other systems were affected or whether any were in use in Iraq or Afghanistan. But the problem, blamed on incompatible software, highlights the military's reliance on the Global Positioning System and the need to protect technology that has become essential for protecting troops, tracking vehicles and targeting weapons. "Everything that moves uses it," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, which tracks military and homeland security news. "It is so central to the American style of war that you just couldn't leave home without it." The problem occurred when new software was installed in ground control systems for GPS satellites on Jan. 11, the Air Force said. Officials said between 8,000 at 10,000 receivers could have been affected, out of more than 800,000 in use across the military.

 

Here is the entire story.

 

I suppose this is caching related only if you happened to log a DNF in January with a borrowed military GPS receiver, but I thought it was interesting in that it highlights the potential for problems. I guess if someone managed to sabotage the GPS then geocaching would be way down on the list of issues.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Moving to the GPS and Technology forum.

[+mchaos]

dadgum, is that why I couldn't find one darn cache in Jan???

 

j/k

[+Egnix]

For the record, this was caused by a problem with certain receivers made by Trimble. There was no problem with the satellites or the ground system software.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Egnix