Full Measure: Can the U.S. Win the War on GPS Jamming? | Video
- Politic
ThePostMaster- 0
- 5 minutes read
GPS has become indispensable both for military operations and everyday American life. But our reliance on it makes us vulnerable to adversaries that have devised ways to jam or intercept the satellite signals GPS relies on. Now, fascinating new technology is providing a possible solution. Lisa Fletcher reports for “Full Measure.”
But lately, some of those Ukrainian weapons have been missing their Russian targets, because modern warfare depends on something most of us rely on every day: GPS.
American-made missiles called Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or J-DAMs—ordinary bombs guided by GPS—have repeatedly failed in the field, disrupted by Russian electronic warfare.
If GPS tells a drone, missile, or aircraft it’s in the wrong place – even by a little – the mission can fail.
Russian forces have become increasingly skilled at disrupting GPS, either by jamming it – overwhelming the signal – or spoofing it by feeding receivers false location data.
ADAM BLACK: This is the US Naval Research Laboratory, quantum technology labs.
LISA FLETCHER: That threat is now driving a race to build something new: quantum navigation – a way to know where you are without relying on satellites at all.
ADAM BLACK: It should be able to provide navigation even in cases where GPS is not available.
LISA FLETCHER: Adam Black is a senior physicist at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. “Full Measure” got a rare interview – insidewhere scientists are working on next-generation navigation. How do you explain that easily to a lay person?
ADAM BLACK: Sure. So quantum navigation basically makes use of quantum sensors, which are a category of sensors that measure different things like the gravitational field of the earth or the magnetic field of the earth. And the idea behind quantum navigation is to combine some of these sensing types together to provide good information about where you are, particularly during the scenarios when maybe GPS is not available to you.
LISA FLETCHER: Here’s how it works. Think of GPS as asking satellites where you are.
Quantum navigation works differently. Instead of listening for signals from space, it measures the world around you. Tiny changes in gravity, subtle shifts in the earth’s magnetic field, your movement and rotation through space. Those measurements act like a fingerprint of a location. Because they’re based on physics – not radio signals – they can’t be jammed or spoofed the same way GPS can.
But how can GPS be misled or disrupted?
ADAM BLACK: The way GPS works is via a radio broadcast from satellites. A different broadcast on the same frequency, but with higher power could sort of overwhelm your GPS receiver’s ability to receive the signal and make use of it. Or even if someone wanted to intentionally fool you as to where you were, they could send out, sort of, a counterfeit GPS signal and your receiver would report an inaccurate position.
LISA FLETCHER: Here’s why this work matters to everyday life: GPS doesn’t just guide weapons. It guides your phone, planes, ships, emergency responders and financial networks.
I’ve got to imagine our adversaries are working as furiously on their versions of this. Is there someplace where you feel like we have a leg up?
ADAM BLACK: The US is actually doing very well on this. The engineering, the technology maturation, and our ability to transition these systems from the lab out to fielded deployed systems. So yeah, I feel good about it.
LISA FLETCHER: While the military is clearly the biggest driver, this technology could eventually affect commercial aviation, shipping, healthcare, and resource exploration.
And as it gets smaller and cheaper, researchers believe versions of it could one day fit into everyday devices. Meaning even if GPS fails – or is fooled – navigation wouldn’t stop.
