There's been a a number of reports on the news today , http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/240256/ , is an example , seems like we're all going back to maps again , any thoughts?
a lot more civilian casualties because they wont be able to pinpoint their air strikes as accurately. I consider that a pretty big downside.
From my recollections of a report I wrote on the GPS system in 2003, yes, it's all one network. They used to limit the capabilities of the civvie network (spoofing, I think they called it), but they stopped that early in the decade.
All civilian versions of GPS have a code worked into them that will allow the military to totally shut it down if required in a time of war. SO...if an actual non-nuclear WWIII broke out, your GPS will be useless. (I say non-nuke, cause if it's a nuke war, we'll all be dead anyways...but I guess your body will know exactly where it's at). Any problems WILL be fixed. Too much for the military, ALL militaries, not just the US, depends on it. Though just so you know, all US Nukes will still be able to be launched and strike where they are supposed to.......
can anyone say military fund raiser? Yeah they need money so they leak stories like to get congress to release the cash. It won't happen. The Bear.
You dont think other country's that use it can use it for free do you ? I'm pretty sure everything that uses GPS has to pay to the USA.
I don't know if it can. The signal is there and anyone can use it. I've never paid a penny for sat nav and use it all day everyday at present. Cost me £30 to set up. Don't think the US gets any of that.
Remember...GPS is USA....doesn't mean that is EXACTLY what you are using. The Russians had there own system that did the same thing (can't recall what it was right now). Wasn't as accurate though. Don't know for sure what y'all are using over there, if it's ACTUAL GPS or not. Could be a European version of the exact same thing, just different satellites. If it IS actual GPS then Martial Dad...er...MOI...is right...the signal is there...if you have a unit that can receive it then you are good to go.
But the satnav manufacturers probably have to pay a licence fee that finds it's way back , the original systems did have an annual subscription.
I believe Europe's own version of GPS is due to be launched either next year or the year after. No idea how long it will take to set up (getting the multiple satellites up and all of the ground systems sorted).
I'll bet you a pound to a penny it is late, over budget and crap. I'm also offering odds of 2/1 that they intend to charge a subscription for accessing the network and 5/1 it never gets finished because of budget constraints. Say what you want about America, but you can always guarantee that they will throw a blank cheque at a problem before they even consider giving up. It's the cold war spirit after all.
Looks like its supposed to be free but I was wrong about the time-frame - looking at 2013 earliest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Navigation_Satellite_System
