The Global Positioning System for Military Users: Current Modernization Plans and Alternatives

Abstract

As the Department of Defense s (DoD s) Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites reach the end of their service lives, the department plans to replace them with ones that can counter deliberate interference by generating stronger signals. Analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) indicates that an alternative approach namely, improving military receivers to retain the GPS signal even in the presence of such jamming would be less expensive than DoD s plan for upgrading its constellation of GPS satellites. Furthermore, the alternative would yield benefits almost a decade earlier than DoD s plan. However, the improvements to military receivers could make them larger and heavier (and thereby less useful to personnel operating on foot) until they could incorporate the substantial gains that have been achieved in miniaturization in other applications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA561799

Entities

Organizations

  • Congressional Budget Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Control Systems
  • Earth Orbits
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Fire Control Systems
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Inertial Navigation
  • Inertial Navigation Systems
  • Military Aircraft
  • Munitions
  • National Security
  • Navigation
  • Navigation Warfare
  • Satellite Constellations
  • Satellite Networks
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Radio communications and signal processing.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space