If you’ve ever used a smartphone map or watched a delivery vehicle move on a tracking app, you’ve used GPS.
What many people don’t realize is that GPS – America’s Global Positioning System – is only one part of a broader family known as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
Four global satellite systems revolve around the Earth. They guide planes, ships, cars and trucks or tourists looking for a place to eat. But they also play a central role in warfare.
How do satellites tell you where you are?
At its core, satellite navigation is a matter of timing. GNSS carry satellites extremely accurate Atomic clocks continuously transmit two key pieces of information: their precise position in orbit and the precise moment the signal was sent.
Meanwhile, on Earth, RRECEIVERS — Like yours smart fone, car or scooterOr To Airairplane or plane — pick these up signal To to decide Their exact position.
they do this with signal from four satellites, provideEng data on latitude, longitude And altitude – as well as one to eliminate any timing errors.
GNSS technology is excessive Pure And approx. it is Deeply embedded in everyday life. but this so Comes with a hidden weakness.
“Signals from global navigation satellite systems are notoriously vulnerable,” said Dana Goward, president of the Global Navigation Satellite System. Flexible Navigation and Timing Foundation in AmericaTold DW.
“They are exceptionally vulnerable – meaning that any radio noise close to their frequency, accidental or malicious, can interfere with reception,” Goward said. “I’m confident there are people in every government who understand the problem. The challenge is for leadership to understand and act to reduce the risk.”
Four global navigation powers: America, Russia, Europe, China
The first two global navigation systems were developed in the 1970s, During the Cold War between America and the then Soviet Union.
America developed GPSWho became The first satellite navigation network to reach full global coverage. it Is Most used navigation system in the world.
At about the same time, Soviet Russia Developed GLONASS.
Then, Wb In the early 2000s the European Union decided to rely solely on GPSfoot Europe too dependent on American strategic infrastructure it Began Galileo’s creation.
China’s BeiDou system is the newest of the four networks. As in Europe, Chinese military planner Wanted to reduce our dependence on America GPS.
there are four systems very similarand “dual use” – designed For civil and military purposes.
“GPS, GLONASS and Galileo all use very similar orbits, with the same number of ssatellites “At an altitude of about 19,000 to 23,000 kilometers,” said Malcolm MacDonald, a professor of satellite engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Beidou makes enhancements. [its system with] “High altitude orbits to support local coverage over Asia.”
Each system can ping any point on Earth at any timeeven if Its as small as your wristwatch.
“Most devices will use multiple constellations [of satellites]. For example, it depends on the device, My own IntelligentThe watch can use GPS and GLONASS, And I can tell it to use either or both.”
Japan and India own and operation similar systems, but They do not cover the entire planet. They Only providee regional navigation data.
How is global navigation system used in warfare?
Armed forces are becoming increasingly dependent on satellite navigation for logistics, mapping and operational planning.
These are used to guide weapons including cruise missiles and so-called smart bombs. Militaries also use navigation satellites to control drones.
But it has targeted satellites only.
In conflicts such as the Russia–Ukraine War, both sides have used electronic warfare tactics, such as “jamming”, interfering with satellite navigation signals to disrupt their transmissions, and “spoofing”, deceiving GPS-based systems on the ground. Spoofing is more difficult than jamming, but it provides an opportunity to confuse the other party.
“Your navigation system may say you are moving at 400 knots and leaving Helsinki Airport, where in reality, you are traveling at 120 kilometers per hour outside Berlin,” said Thomas Withington, an electronic warfare analyst at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute.
This technique can be used to hide locationFor example, A Russian shadow fleet that is trying to cross a certain area and remains unidentified.
“It has also been used to inject small errors into a ship’s location as it transits the Strait of Hormuz, causing that ship to mistakenly enter a country’s territorial waters, forcing that country to board the ship and go ashore for illegal entry,” MacDonald said.
Goward said it is potentially a bigger threat to Europe and the US than Russia and Chinabecause while Russia and China have domestic, terrestrial systems to complement and backup GNSS The West doesn’t.”
And the “frustrating thing” is that there is no technology that can effectively eliminate the problem caused by GNSS, Withington said..
efforts have been made to develop Technical alternatives to GNSS. but for nowWithington said, One of the “most expedient” options in war Is “Just locate the jammer and destroy it.”
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbani