GPS World

Tag: DoD

  • GPSIA asks FCC to reexamine Ligado decision

    GPSIA asks FCC to reexamine Ligado decision

    GPSIA logoThe GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) sent a letter to FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly on July 30 regarding Ligado Networks.

    The letter highlights what appears to be different characterizations of the engineering information in the FCC’s record, and suggests that these contrasting statements “support a careful re-examination of the bases of the Ligado Order and a stay of the decision while that occurs.”

    “GPSIA appreciates your continued interest and efforts in this proceeding, and your willingness to consider whether a stay of the Ligado order may be appropriate,” the letter states. “As the record in this proceeding makes clear, sound technical analyses were conducted on Ligado’s network by DOT — a neutral third-party U.S. government expert on GPS. Further evaluation of those analyses should prompt the Commission to set aside the Ligado order so that its understanding of the DoT ABC Report can be better aligned with the authors of the report.”

    Read the full text of the letter.

    Hold on Third FCC Chairmanship. In a related report, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) on July 28 placed a hold on the nomination of O’Rielly to another five-year term chairing the commission.

    Inhofe said he would block O’Rielly until the nominee “publicly commits to vote to overturn the current Ligado order,” according to a report from Space News.

    “Over the past few months, I have sent letters, held hearings and called countless officials to highlight what we all know to be true: the FCC’s Ligado order is flawed and will lead to significant harm to our military and the thousands of individuals and businesses that rely on GPS,” Inhofe said.

  • Microchip introduces timing GPS with embedded M-code receiver

    Microchip introduces timing GPS with embedded M-code receiver

    New SyncServer S650 M-Code secures military communication systems, radar and networks reliant on GPS signals

    Photo: Microchip
    Photo: Microchip

    Threats from intentional jamming and spoofing of GPS signals, as well as cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure, demonstrate the need for powerful and secure time and frequency systems that ensure continuing operability and performance.

    Microchip Technology’s SyncServer S650 M-Code time server has received approval from the U.S. Air Force GPS Directorate of the Los Angeles Air Force Base for use in support of military communication systems, radars and networks.

    M-code, an encrypted military signal broadcasted in GPS frequency bands, is required by congressional mandate for mission critical Department of Defense (DOD) applications in hostile environments. Microchip’s SyncServer S650 M-Code equipped time and frequency server provides a secure, accurate, flexible platform for synchronizing mission-critical electronic systems and instrumentation.

    For DOD programs requiring jam-resistant, encrypted time and frequency signals from the GPS military M-code Precise Positioning Service (PPS), the SyncServer S650 M-Code is a secure time and frequency instrument with a fully integrated M-code GPS receiver.

    “As the first time and frequency instrument enabling DOD compliance for M-code-based GPS systems, this technology demonstrates Microchip’s continuing commitment and investment in the security of time and frequency systems,” said Randy Brudzinski, vice president, Frequency and Timing Solutions business unit. “This time server represents a new level of security hardening built on Microchip’s proven commercial SyncServer S650 time server that provides extreme timing accuracy, security and flexibility.”

    The SyncServer S650 M-code equipped time and frequency instrument is a rack mounted server device that synchronizes to the atomic clocks aboard GPS satellites via M-code. The S650 M-code leverages new technology to provide enhanced anti-jamming protection and further hardening against spoofing, providing greater accuracy, and improving operator ease-of-use for key loading.

    Harder to jam than commercial CA-Code GPS, M-code provides a more secure signal than the commercial CA-Code or SAASM P(Y) signal, with greater accuracy. The instrument also is easier for operators to load crypto keys.

    Staff Sgt. Daniel Pennington, a flight engineer assigned to B Co "Big Windy," 1-214th General Support Aviation Battalion, takes in his 'office' view from the ramp of his CH-47 Chinook while flying over the island of Cyprus on Jan. 14, 2020. (Photo: U.S. Army/Maj. Robert Fellingham)
    Staff Sgt. Daniel Pennington, a flight engineer assigned to B Co “Big Windy,” 1-214th General Support Aviation Battalion, takes in his ‘office’ view from the ramp of his CH-47 Chinook while flying over the island of Cyprus on Jan. 14, 2020. (Photo: U.S. Army/Maj. Robert Fellingham)

    The SyncServer S650 M-Code can utilize Microchip’s FlexPort technology for multiport, user definable output signal configurations for Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) timecodes, pulses and a variety of signal types essential for military communication, radars and network system synchronization. This is coupled with Microchip’s NTP Reflector technology for robust security, accuracy and reliability of network-based time services such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP). Other features include:

    • Four standard GbE ports, all with patented NTP hardware time stamping, with two additional 10 GbE ports optional
    • Contains most popular timing signal inputs/outputs standard in the base timing I/O module (IRIG B, 10 MHz, 1PPS)
    • Web-based management with high security cipher suite
    • Rubidium atomic clock or OCXO oscillator upgrades
    • Superior 10 MHz low phase noise options

    Microchip has been delivering the SyncServer S650 to synchronize business critical and mission critical operations, across all industry segments, since its commercial introduction in 2016.

  • US falling behind protecting GPS/GNSS, civilian users

    US falling behind protecting GPS/GNSS, civilian users

    No One Is in Charge

    Guest column by Dana Goward

    dana-goward
    Dana Goward

    Europe’s scattered monitoring of GNSS signals found almost 500,000 interference events over three years. About 59,000 were clearly intentional. European standards for resilient receivers have been published and acquisition of an interference detection network is underway.

    Russia is improving its terrestrial Loran/Chayka PNT system for military use and has promised to make the upgraded service available to civilians.

    China has retained its terrestrial Loran PNT system as an augmentation/backup for its BeiDou GNSS. It is also testing PNT satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) to provide more powerful and reliable signals than available from current GNSS.

    In contrast to the actions of other countries, little is being done in the United States to protect civilian GPS/GNSS users.

    The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been very active protecting its own with GPS M-code signals and receivers. It is exploring use of LEO communications satellites and high-powered, low-frequency ground transmissions, such as Loran, to add to the GPS signals.

    Yet DoD claims civilian use of GPS has limited its ability to use it as a military tool. It says it has no intention of sharing any new PNT systems with civilians.

    At the same time, the 99% of GPS use in the U.S. that is non-military is arguably more important to the nation’s safety and security. GPS signals are used by every networked technology and every mode of transportation. They are so important that officials at the Department of Homeland Security have called GPS “a single point of failure for critical infrastructure.”

    The U.S. military recently updated its PNT strategy, has a designated leader for its PNT efforts, and clearly defines the responsibilities of its various staffs and organizations.

    Civil agency responsibilities were last updated in 2004 and are spread across more than a dozen departments, agencies, and staffs.

    Most significantly, no one is in charge.

    This has meant that over the past 15 years, many of the civil mandates and responsibilities to protect signals and users have gone unfulfilled. As just one example, rather than ramp up to address increases in jamming, the Federal Communications Commission has reduced its enforcement equipment and staff.

    Putting someone in charge is key to reversing America’s civil PNT decline and energizing both federal and private stakeholders.

    A single, empowered federal leader should be responsible, not for doing everything, but for leading and coordinating federal and other civil efforts. This would be someone to be held accountable, and to hold others accountable — an evangelist for the essentiality of these services, and their advocate at the highest levels of government.

    Such a leader should be positioned outside the daily turmoil of the White House and National Security Council. They should be in the civil department with the portfolio that most depends on GPS and other PNT. The one that suffers first when GPS and other PNT are not available — the Department of Transportation (DOT).

    DOT is already the federal interface with civil GPS users, and co-chairs the national PNT executive committee with DOD. A few edits to national policy and a few staff reassignments could establish a national PNT leader in DOT and make all the difference.

    Regaining U.S. PNT leadership is essential to America’s future security and prosperity. We must take the first step by appointing and empowering a single federal leader to make it happen.

    Dana Goward is president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.

  • US Department of Defense PNT strategy: ‘GPS is not enough’

    US Department of Defense PNT strategy: ‘GPS is not enough’

    • DOD report coverGPS might be interfered with globally
    • Multiple, diverse PNT sources, modular open system needed for receivers
    • Civil use hampering military efforts to leverage GPS for military advantage
    • DoD PNT efforts to be increasingly classified, not shared with civil users

    In August, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) publicly released a version of its “Strategy for the Department of Defense Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Enterprise” with the tagline “Ensuring a U.S. Military PNT Advantage.”

    Calling PNT “foundational,” the strategy observes that the U.S. military has over the years structured its weapons systems and business processes around GPS PNT. This has created a tremendous dependence and associated vulnerability.

    Added to this threat is the realization that “At the same time, it is increasingly clear… GPS will be targeted and will not always be available in contested military operating areas, or perhaps globally.”

    Multiple diverse sources of PNT

    One of the primary ways DoD will deal with is this is to access multiple diverse sources of PNT. These will be in a multi-layered architecture of global, regional and local services.

    DOD report figure-architecture

    The strategy envisions GPS, paired with military-grade receivers, as the primary global layer source. It recognizes that allied GNSS will be available, but observes that DoD has not done any accuracy and integrity assessments to determine their usefulness. And, since “…all are vulnerable to the same interference and jamming effects” as GPS, “…other sources of PNT information with different characteristics are necessary.”

    The regional layer is defined by systems that service large areas such as a few countries or even continents. Recognizing that regional sources can be in space, the strategy discusses two low-frequency ground-based systems with characteristics much different from satellites — enhanced Loran (eLoran) and spatial, temporal and orientation information in contested environments (STOIC).

    “Their high power and low frequency enable regional/nationwide coverage, spectrally separate from GPS services, accessible in buildings and under water, and transmitted from dispersed terrestrial locations. Each can be considered as a possible complement to GPS, depending upon operational circumstances and requirements.”

    Short-range radio frequency systems, clock, inertial, sensory and hybrid PNT services integrated with wireless networks are all cited as possible contributors to the local layer of DoD’s PNT architecture.

    Modular, open-systems approach

    Receivers that employ a modular, open-systems approach that can ingest and integrate the various sources of PNT information are needed to take advantage of this multi-source, multi-layer strategy. And integration of the various sources must be seamless and invisible to the user, unless they decide otherwise.

    “The employment of multiple PNT sources should not require user awareness or intervention to switch among alternatives during mission execution unless the user elects that option.”

    A critical need for implementing this approach, according to the strategy, is the establishment of PNT input/output standards. The document notes that candidate standards have been developed, and it is vital to finalize and approve the standards and bring them into operational service as soon as possible.

    Other provisions

    The strategy includes a number of other provisions regarding internal DoD processes, the complicated governance process for PNT within the department, and some complex graphics that may be of interest to the larger PNT community.

    It also sends several messages about the department’s desires, intent and concerns in the world of PNT that are worth noting.

    NAVWAR. The department’s main defensive capability during navigation warfare will be the use of its layered architecture of PNT information and modular, open-systems integration. For offensive operations, it cautions warfighters to not shoot themselves in the foot. PNT is so vital to a wide variety of allied systems, it warns, that denying it to hostiles could do as much damage to friendly forces.

    PNT dominience/superiority. At at time when there are more of China’s brand new BeiDou satellites in the skies of many cities, and China is negotiating with Russia for closer BeiDou/GLONASS integration, the strategy calls for the U.S. DoD to achieve PNT dominance. To date, U.S. PNT leadership has been a big contributor to the nation’s political and military leadership in the world. The strategy seeks to continue this.

    DOD report figureAccelerate M-code receivers. The need to get more M-code GPS receivers into the hands of warfighters is mentioned several times. GPS III satellites have been transmitting M-coded signals that are much more resilient to jamming and spoofing than civil signals since late 2018. These are useless, though, without properly equipped receivers in the field.

    Future support to Civil PNT. The strategy also seems to show the department is distancing itself from support of future civil PNT endeavors. While GPS has been an incredible economic engine and boon to civil users, this has not always been in DoD’s best interests.

    “It must also be recognized that in this context growing civil dependence on GPS services for critical infrastructure and public use will continue to constrain the ability of the DoD to maintain a military PNT advantage from GPS.”

    It goes on to warn that future DoD PNT systems and efforts will not follow the same path to civil-military use as was taken by GPS.

    “DOD must take steps to ensure the civil agencies are aware of and are sensitive to the dual-use implications inherent in GPS and other PNT Enterprise applications. From this point forward, many of the specific PNT capabilities and combinations of PNT capabilities employed by the DoD for military purposes will increasingly be classified.”

    The way ahead for the 99%

    It is clear that the Department of Defense, through the very capable leadership of its CIO, Dana Deasy, has a clear idea of where it is with PNT, its critical challenges, and how to overcome them.

    This does not appear to be the case for those in the federal government charged with safeguarding the interests of civil users. With responsibilities fragmented across a host of departments and agencies, efforts on behalf of the public at large are barely visible compared to those the Defense Department is taking to protect itself.

    According to officials, this may change. They report that leadership of civil PNT within the executive branch is under review with an eye to making it more efficient and effective.

    Perhaps it will result in a PNT strategy for the 99% of GPS users who are not connected with the Defense establishment, making them safer and more secure as well.

    “Strategy for the Department of Defense Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Enterprise” is available online.

  • Sensofusion’s counter-UAS Airfence preps for production with DOD

    Sensofusion’s counter-UAS Airfence preps for production with DOD

    In the spring of 2017, the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) — via the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) — engaged in a one-year prototype contract with Sensofusion to develop a ground-based mobile counter-UAS solution stemming from Sensofusion’s pre-existing core product Airfence.

    Sensofusion acted as lead integrator and further advanced Airfence to integrate radar and optics systems on board vehicles enabling all systems to work in unison, with Airfence being the core counter-UAS solution by means of RF detection and transmission.

    The DIUx project has been active for more than 12 months, growing and expanding since its late March 2017 launch.

    Airfence is now fully ruggedized, meeting IP67 ruggedization requirements. Furthermore, Airfence has outperformed all tests for range of detection and counterattack capabilities and has also greatly increased the number of drones within its library it can detect, track and defeat yielding zero false positives, Sensofusion said. The system has outperformed range testing at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.

    In addition, Airfence exceeded expectations against a large variety of small UAVs — including fixed wings and rotorcrafts — while Marines operated the technology under extreme weather conditions in Arizona at Yuma Proving Grounds. YPG is the largest U.S. military installation in the world and has been a key site for testing military equipment since World War II.

    Through its work with the U.S. Marine Corps, Sensofusion has brought its system to a single sensor solution, which is beneficial for tactical use in a mobile convoy scenario.

    Airfence also can be used for fixed installations when protecting areas such as military bases, airports, prisons, oil refineries and pipelines, nuclear power plants, power plants, government buildings and border walls.

    Sensofusion has made major leaps in its ability to detect and defeat rogue drones by means of protocol demodulation and manipulation.

    “Our work in the past year with the Marines enables us to meet production readiness with our flagship counter-UAS solution, AIRFENCE, and are now prepping for production with the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security,” said Sensofusion Vice President Kaveh Mahdavi. “We’re now at a point where DoD, DHS — really, any government organization — can order our standardized counter-UAS platform, Airfence, in large quantities. This is a significant advancement within our developing drone defense industry and will act as the benchmark for all future solutions.”

    Extension to Sensofusion-U.S. DoD contract signed. As Sensofusion ramps up production for AIRFENCE across government agencies in America, it continues to align with MCWL, signing a one-year extension to the agreement with the DoD to innovate and implement new capabilities within signal intelligence.

  • DoD offers $110K in startup contest for GNSS-denied navigation technologies

    The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Israel’s Ministry of Defense are joining forces for the third time in setting up a startup competition to tap into new technologies to beat terrorism. More than $200,000 in prizes will be awarded to the most promising startups.

    “As terrorists become ever more sophisticated, technological innovations become an increasingly critical component of detecting and defeating them,” challenge organizers said.

    The challenge is is divided into two tracks.

    • The Urban Navigation Technologies Challenge focuses on navigating without GPS — an increasingly important issue for special forces, law enforcement and other anti-terrorism professionals who need to operate indoors or in environments where GPS is not available. (See more below.)
    • The General Technologies Challenge includes surveillance, social media analytics, image and video, cybersecurity, drones, robotics, personal protection, biometrics, reconnaissance, and detection of explosives or water contamination.

    Both tracks are open to all startups, entrepreneurs, and research groups worldwide, with a deadline of March 9. Entries will be reviewed by an international panel of judges from the DoD, Israel Defense and other organizations.

    The most promising startups will be invited to present at the Combating Terrorism Technology Conference in Tel Aviv University on June 17.

    Navigation Challenge

    Entries in Urban Navigation Challenge might include location services based on beacons, technologies incorporating pre-loaded maps, technologies that estimate a user’s position via dead-reckoning or step-counting, and any other technology for navigating or positioning with no GPS.

    Technologies may include: laser, inertial, vision, simultaneous localization and mapping, dead reckoning, pre-installed beacons or other infrastructure, pre-loaded maps, Wi-Fi, cellular or any other solution that operates in a GNSS-denied environment.

    The winning startup will receive a $100,000 prize and a runner-up receives $10,000.

    In addition, Navigation Challenge finalists will demonstrate their technologies in a dedicated urban navigation test facility in Israel.

  • GAO: Better coordination needed for GPS M-code adoption

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) assign responsibility to an organization to collect test data, lessons learned and design solutions in its effort to meet GPS modernization goals.

    According to the GAO, “The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, as part of M-code receiver card acquisition planning, assign an organization with responsibility for systematically collecting integration test data, lessons learned, and design solutions and making them available to all programs expected to integrate M-code receiver cards.”

    DOD concurred with the recommendation.

    The GAO presented its findings in a 53-page report issued Dec. 12, “Global Positioning System: Better Planning and Coordination Needed to Improve Prospects for Fielding Modernized Capability.”

    According to the GAO, “DOD has made some progress on initial testing of the receiver cards needed to utilize the M-code signal. However, additional development is necessary to make M-code work with over 700 weapon systems that require it.

    “DOD has begun initial planning for some weapon systems, but more remains to be done to understand the cost and schedule needed to transition to M-code receivers.

    “The preliminary estimate for integrating and testing a fraction of the weapon systems that need the receiver cards is over $2.5 billion through fiscal year 2021 with only 28 fully and 72 partially funded (see below figure). The cost will increase by billions when as yet unfunded weapon systems are included.”

    Status of weapon systems that have determined the cost needed to transition to M-code receivers through Fiscal Year 2021, as of February 2017.

    In its summary, the GAO wrote “DOD faces risks as it simultaneously develops satellites, a ground system to operate them, and receiver cards that allow use of GPS signals. It will need to install receiver cards on hundreds of systems and, without better coordination, risks paying repeatedly to solve similar problems across the systems.”

    The report also assesses the extent to which DOD faces acquisition challenges in sustaining the GPS constellation and developing a new ground control system. The GAO analyzed GPS quarterly acquisition reports and data, acquisition strategies, software and test plans, and other documents, and interviewed DOD and contractor officials.

  • Microsemi SyncServer incorporates SAASM for defense market

    Microsemi SyncServer incorporates SAASM for defense market

    Microsemi Corporation’s new SyncServer S650 SAASM server incorporates a Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM).

    The SAASM capability provides a highly secure, accurate and flexible time and frequency platform for synchronizing mission-critical electronics systems and instrumentation applications in the defense market, such as satellite communications and defense operational infrastructure, the company said.

    Military Grade. The new SyncServer S650 SAASM, designed for use by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and other government agencies as well as their approved suppliers, received the GPS Directorate Security Approval to incorporate a military-grade, GPS SAASM receiver module.

    Microsemi SyncServer S650 SAASM Time and Frequency Server.

    This enables U.S. armed forces to confidently deploy features of Microsemi’s popular commercial SyncServer S650 in a military-grade configuration. In addition, the integrated SAASM module adheres to industry standards allowing for a migration path to GPS Military Code (M-code) support.

    “Our key military and DOD-related customers require flexible, secure and extremely reliable time and frequency technology for their most critical applications, which they have come to rely upon from Microsemi. Enabling support for SAASM provides the extra security and reliability necessary for this market,” said Randy Brudzinski, vice president and business unit manager of the Frequency and Timing Division at Microsemi. “The addition of the SyncServer S650 SAASM to our product line further demonstrates Microsemi’s commitment to providing the highest quality time and frequency technology in support of vital government programs.”

    The SyncServer S650 SAASM is a highly versatile time and frequency system with the company’s FlexPort technology for multiport, user-definable output signal configurations for time codes, pulses and a variety of signal types essential for system synchronization.

    This makes the SyncServer S650 SAASM ideal for DoD electronics system engineers synchronizing mission-critical, system-level instruments. This is coupled with Microsemi’s NTP Reflector technology for robust security, accuracy and reliability of network-based time services such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

    Resilience to Threats. According to a 2017 GNSS Market Report, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) jamming and spoofing are specifically identified as increasing and notable cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure.

    Furthermore, resilience to these threats has become mandatory by critical infrastructure policy makers and GNSS receiver manufacturers. Without the use of SAASM technology in the presence of these threats, deliberate or unintentional, the most mission-critical systems operated by the DOD may be subject to the side effects of degraded time and frequency performance.

    Microsemi’s new SyncServer S650 SAASM is designed to generate precise time and frequency signals to synchronize high bandwidth mission-critical communications systems and critical infrastructure requiring the highest levels of security support.

    In addition to offering superior low phase noise performance, the device is compliant with the Joint Chiefs of Staff SAASM GPS mandate and developed for authorized military users only.

  • Rockwell Demonstrates Next-Gen Military Test Range System

    During the first week in September, Rockwell Collins completed Contractor Test and Evaluation flights at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for the Common Range Integrated Instrumentation System (CRIIS). The demonstration included ground-to-air uplink of GPS correction messages and network services from multiple data-link towers.

    In cooperation with the CRIIS System Program Office (SPO), contractors and the University of Iowa Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), 13 test flights were conducted using an L-29 from the University of Iowa OPL. Throughout the testing, the high reliability of the CRIIS equipment resulted in all test flights being performed as scheduled. Only a single test flight was scrubbed due to bad weather. All the flights were conducted using production form, fit, function airborne and ground equipment.

    The CRIIS program fulfills critical Department of Defense (DoD) requirements to provide Time, Space, Position Information (TSPI) and additional platform test data, while employing a more robust, spectrally efficient data link, including Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS). The MILS encryption recently completed certification on the program, and is capable of simultaneously protecting four levels of Top Secret through Unclassified data flowing between aircraft and ground components.

    “These flight tests demonstrate the mature, production ready level that the CRIIS program has reached,” said Tommy Dodson, vice president and general manager of Surface Solutions for Rockwell Collins. “Tests were an end-to-end validation of the complete CRIIS system using production representative hardware and software. This testing validated that the next generation of secure, common test and training instrumentation is mature.”

    Rockwell Collins is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the next-generation military test range system that will replace the Advanced Range Data System (ARDS) currently in use at major U.S. military test ranges. CRIIS equipment will support a variety of platforms, including advanced fifth-generation aircraft, and implements the DoD’s vision of common test and training infrastructure for improved operational realism.

    The following key functions were demonstrated on these flights:

    • End-to-end system validation with production representative hardware
    • High confidence in ability to meet TSPI performance requirements
    • Data-link network ingress after takeoff
    • Ground-to-air uplink of GPS correction messages and network services from multiple data-link towers
    • Air-to-ground downlink of TSPI messages
    • High dynamic scenarios involving a total of 133 dynamic maneuvers representative of flight profiles fighter jets undertake during air combat training

    In addition to the multi-level secure ground equipment, the CRIIS flight hardware is configurable in either a pod mounted package or internally mounted on aircraft. This gives CRIIS the flexibility to adapt to use by a wide range of aircraft from all over the world, and the ability to fully integrate those aircraft into complex training scenarios.

    Following the completion of CT&E, the CRIIS SPO will conduct Government Test and Evaluation (GT&E) later this year to support a planned final Production Readiness Review in the near future.

  • Raytheon Demonstrates Advanced GPS OCX Capabilities

    On June 3, Raytheon demonstrated the advanced capabilities of the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX) to key U.S. Department of Defense  (DoD) and other stakeholders through a series of realistic operational demonstrations.

    The demonstrations, which incorporated software that will be delivered with the Launch and Checkout System, validated how automation will improve system efficiency and effectiveness.

    GPS OCX is the ground-based command and control system that will manage GPS satellites with significantly improved accuracy and precision, while providing unprecedented levels of cyber protection.

    “These successful demonstrations incorporating actual GPS OCX software reflect Raytheon’s significant and continuing progress on this program and the growing maturity of this very complex system,” said Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services. “Once delivered, this pathfinding, cyber-hardened ground system will significantly enhance the capabilities GPS brings to military, civil and commercial users worldwide,” said Wajsgras.

    The demonstration provided DoD and other stakeholders with a look at how OCX will automate many tasks currently performed manually, resulting in reduced opportunities for error and increased operational tempo for delivering military and other applications, Raytheon said.

    Raytheon demonstrated the benefits of OCX in providing new high-power, jam-resistant military signal known as M-code, as well as the system’s unprecedented cyber automation, detection and response capabilities.

    Raytheon is installing the Block 0 Launch and Checkout System (LCS) hardware at Schriever Air Force Base. LCS software, which includes the cyber-hardened infrastructure for OCX Block 1, is in the qualification test phase and is on track for delivery in mid-2016.

  • PHGPST Resurrected: Seeking the Perfect Device

    Don Jewell

    By Don Jewell

    Cards and Letters

    It happens every year and it is an emotional rollercoaster.  It generally starts a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving and continues until just after New Years – and it is simply heartbreaking. The letters and emails start arriving just like clockwork before the holidays and they all ask the same question – where can I buy the PHGPST or the Perfect Handheld GPS Transceiver?

    As many of you know, who are faithful readers, I receive hundreds of letters and emails like this throughout the year from our warfighters and first responders, but the letters and emails over the holidays are special because they are from the wives, sisters, children, parents and grandparents of war fighters. They want nothing but the best for their loved ones. It breaks my heart to have to tell them that the PHGPST does not exist – yet.

    Without a doubt, our warfighters and first responders, who put their lives on the line so that we may continue to live and thrive in a free world, where innovation and response to customer needs are hopefully met with success both emotional and fiscal, deserve nothing but the best, and that is the goal I continue to pursue on their behalf.

    Dissatisfaction

    Paraphrasing Walter Kaufman, “Otherworldliness or ‘belief that there is a better world’ is the child of disenchantment with this world.” To say our warfighters are disenchanted with the antiquated legacy MUE or military user equipment they are forced by policy to utilize today is an understatement. DoD’s antediluvian MUE is a joke compared to what is available in the commercial marketplace today. Studies indicate our warfighters are aware of this dichotomy and have shown their disdain in the last ten years by using commercial and civil PNT equipment in theater 40/1 over the government’s archaic MUE handheld devices. Studies further show that MUE is utilized by our warfighters only as a last resort and as a matter of necessity due to the outdated policies and technologies that continue to prevail. However, I am happy to say these anachronistic restrictions are reportedly rapidly coming to an end.

    Consider that the USMC (US Marine Corps) decertified the PLGR in 2009 because “the PLGR or Precision GPS Lightweight Receiver is an obsolete GPS military receiver” [ed. PLGR was designed circa 1988] and almost all Services today use the DAGR or Defense Advanced GPS Receiver [ed. the DAGR was designed circa 2002]. The DAGR was a major capability improvement ten years ago but today is technologically obsolete and primarily used as an embedded solution only. As an embedded device the DAGR serves its purpose — providing an antiquated, unfriendly user interface to legacy government equipment. For example, rumor has it that one version of the Stryker, of which the Army has more than 4,200 in service, described as a technologically advanced combat fighting vehicle, uses nine, count them, nine individual DAGRs. Draw your own conclusions. I suspect this has more to do with the inadequacies of the DAGR vice the capabilities of the Stryker. The good news here is that my sources in the DoD tell me there will be no further DAGR purchases. Now if I were giving this as an oral presentation, I would pause here for thundering applause and a standing ovation. Can I have an Amen?

    Several years ago, I penned the following: “MUE is necessary because it is the only platform that currently provides SAASM (selective availability anti-spoofing module) protection, along with a second military frequency giving the military user an advantage over his civilian counterpart.” Today none of that statement is true from a purely intrinsic or commercial point of view. There are much more capable receivers with all these capabilities and more, to include real-time centimeter-level accuracy, available on the commercial market today.

    Marketplace Responds

    This year the PNT (position, navigation and timing) marketplace has finally responded, and I am able to reply to warfighter family enquiries with more positive information. In just the last 18-24 months, the path to an actual PHGPST has been blazed by several major GPS manufacturers, and well-informed pundits say DOD policy changes may be in the wind as well.

    The PHGPST

    I had a three-hour lunch several weeks ago with the chief PNT engineer from one of the companies pursuing the PHGPST. It was enlightening to hear him wax eloquent concerning their new PNT device and the capabilities it will provide the warfighter, first responders and commercial/civil users as well. Indeed, there is a real possibility, if DoD policy changes lag technology (can you imagine that ever happening?) that civil/ commercial users may be the first recipients of this technological manna from the gods. But not to worry — if the actions of our warfighters during the last ten years of warfare are any indication, the warfighters and first responders will merely purchase what they need, from whatever sources are available, regardless of antiquated policy and doctrine. As one Marine lieutenant colonel warfighter commander so eloquently phrased it, “So please tell me where I can purchase the PHGPST…because when your life and those of your fellow Marines is on the line, who gives a damn about policy … give me the best solution possible  … because the current #@*&% MUE is not even in the same ballpark as the best.”

    Unfortunately, the chief engineer declined to allow me to use the name of his company, but they have promised me a pre-production unit to test and write about. As to time frame, he assures me there will still be plenty of snow banks and icy mud puddles in Colorado for my exhaustive real-world tests. Ever since that lunch I have been like a kid at Christmas… I just can’t wait for the test unit to arrive.

    Trimble

    However, while I am waiting with bated breath, another major PNT company/manufacturer pursuing the PHGPST has gone public with its intentions, and that is Trimble. I had the pleasure of visiting with Ann Ciganer and other Trimble executives in San Jose for a day recently, and then in early November attended Trimble Dimensions for the first time. I was simply amazed. Talk about feeling like a kid in a candy store – and that feeling had nothing to do with the venue – the Mirage in Las Vegas. Seriously, Jim Sheldon, general manager of Trimble’s Mobile Computing Solutions (MCS) Division and his team in Corvallis, Oregon, have outdone themselves. Their rugged line of PNT devices is simply jaw dropping in appearance and capability. I was privileged to sit in on some MCS planning meetings and I was blown away by what I heard — none of which I can relate here because of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and such — but suffice it to say that Trimble has been listening to its customers (what a concept) including warfighters/first responders, and it shows in the devices hitting the market now and in the next few months.

    I was very impressed, and I guess it showed because one company PR/marketing pundit commented that I could probably write about nothing but Trimble rugged equipment for the next twelve months. Although he said it in jest, he was more correct than he knew. Indeed, another person in that group commented that I could write nothing but reviews for the next twelve months and become known as the Gunnery Sergeant Lee Emery military twin for GNSS. You may remember Emery hosted two History Channel programs: Mail Call, where he answered military questions, both modern and historic; and Lock N’ Load with R. Lee Ermey, which focused on the development of different types of military equipment, mostly weapons. I personally never missed an episode of either program and while I am flattered at the comparison, frankly I prefer the written word. But it does offer up the possibility of conducting even more PNT/GNNS equipment evaluations – the only issue being that it takes me about six weeks to properly evaluate a piece of PNT equipment, and it really helps if there is are lots of snow banks and deep icy puddles around. And remember, my rules of engagement are to never write a bad review, because why should you spend your time reading about something you can’t use, and, if at all possible, I won’t review equipment I have not personally used in the field under the most austere conditions available.

    So in the next twelve months we will be looking hard at candidates vying for the title of the PHGPST, and I will do my best to keep you abreast of all the technological advancements and policy changes that make that possible. And maybe next year as the holidays approach, I will be able to respond with a plethora of choices for the PHGPST.

    Until next year, semper fi and happy navigating.

  • Expert Advice: Soldiers and Civilian GPS: Dangerous (and Deadly?) Expediency

     

    Headshot: Jules McNeff
    Headshot: Jules McNeff

    By Jules McNeff

    An old adage says, “Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” That is particularly relevant in today’s world of GPS and the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) dependencies it has created. In business, it’s all about location, and in military circles, something called real-time situational awareness, driven by the ready availability of PNT from GPS. However, it has been reported (and validated by experience) that U.S. soldiers believe that the GPS equipment they are issued through official channels is too big, too heavy, uses too many batteries, and is old-looking and not sexy like the multi-color, multi-app personal electronics and smart phones they are accustomed to at home.

    Furthermore, they reportedly feel encumbered by Department of Defense (DoD) policies that require the use of encrypted military GPS signals when executing combat mission command-and-control or performing combat-related actions such as synchronizing tactical networks, designating targets, and calling for fire support when in contact with an adversary force. They wish they could just use their iPhone, or iPad, or similar smart device with its integral location-based apps and ready communication capabilities, and not have to deal with what many see as obsolescent gear and antiquated policies. Unfortunately, were that wish to really come true across the joint force and mission domain, it could have disastrous and deadly consequences.

    This is not intended to be a defense of the DoD requirements and acquisition processes, for there is much that could be improved within both. Adherence to those processes in the procurement of PNT equipment means that it will take longer to develop and produce the equipment than comparable commercial units, and that the equipment will probably be heavier and less user-friendly than commercial products.

    However, those processes exist and are rigorously followed, first because they are required by statute, but also for practical reasons of justifying investments of taxpayer resources and ensuring as much as possible that whatever is procured will withstand the rigors of service in its intended military application. For GPS equipment, this includes not only the rigors of the physical environment but also those of the electronic environment, including threats of both unintentional and hostile interference and signal imitation. It is precisely that threat environment that presents the greatest danger to reliance on commercial GPS products in military applications.

    The U.S. military and coalition forces have been fortunate from a PNT perspective over the last couple of decades in facing relatively unsophisticated adversaries with either limited access to or limited desire to routinely employ PNT countermeasure technology. Consequently, we have seemingly become complacent to the risks posed by overreliance on commercial-derivative PNT products. This complacency is apparent in the recent reporting from the Army’s forward-leaning Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) program, in which the Army assesses leading-edge commercial technologies and identifies those with great promise in order to fast-track them into operation, bypassing as much as possible the aforementioned DoD requirements and acquisition processes. 

    At the same time, the Army gives a wink and a nod to the GPS security policies requiring use of encrypted military GPS signals for combat operations. It is a virtual certainty that if GPS drives the location-based applications in the commercial-derivative technologies evaluated by NIE, those applications are all powered by civilian GPS and not the encrypted military GPS. As noted, civilian GPS is frequently seen by those not thoroughly familiar with PNT technology as the cheap, expedient choice because more secure or integrated PNT sources are too expensive, too heavy, too much bother, and so on. 

    It is also apparent, though not confirmed, that during NIE field testing, the opposing force toolkit does not include navigation warfare (NAVWAR) techniques for GPS jamming and spoofing. If it did, and if the test scenarios included active GPS jamming and spoofing, then the commercial location-based apps with civilian GPS as their input would not work or would derive erroneous solutions. In that case, the Army might have to reconsider its rapid deployment decisions for these vitally important devices. Clearly, it is not doing that.

    The highly touted Rifleman Radio, advertised by the Army as a success, uses civilian GPS as its source of PNT information. The Army is planning to deploy tens of thousands of these radios for operational use over the next several years. While soldiers may be told or even admonished not to use the position and timing solutions derived from these radios for other than situational awareness — in other words, not to use them for direct combat or combat-support tasks — the likelihood of that policy being followed in the real world is nil. Either of necessity or for convenience, soldiers will use what is made available to them for whatever purposes they deem appropriate. That will be true whether the commercial-derivative PNT solution is in a smartphone or a Rifleman Radio. 

    For the near term, that may not be a problem. However, at some point, in a contested environment against a knowledgeable adversary, mission effectiveness will be compromised and soldiers’ lives will be endangered by such devices. Further, proliferation of these devices will constrain our own commanders in their ability to employ offensive NAVWAR techniques that might be necessary to disrupt adversary use of open civilian GPS signals against our forces in the combat theater.

    These statements are not mere speculation. The vulnerability of civilian GPS signals to unintentional interference and intentional jamming is well known. Reports of personal privacy devices interfering with reception of civilian GPS signals at Newark Airport provide a recent example (see “Personal Privacy Jammers,” page 28 in this issue). What is less well understood, but even more sinister in a combat environment, is civil GPS susceptibility to spoofing: the intentional creation of false, but believable, signals. 

    In a recent interview with Fox News, Todd Humphreys, a well-regarded GPS researcher from the University of Texas, stated, “The civil GPS signal is completely open and vulnerable to a spoofing attack, because they have no authentication and no encryption. It’s almost trivial to mimic those signals to imitate them and fool a GPS receiver into tracking your signals instead of the authentic ones.” In a combat environment, such deception could result in mission failure or loss of life through loss of command-and-control communications in high tempo lethal actions, erroneous target designations, or misdirected fires.

    All those who recommend providing soldiers in combat situations with PNT capabilities derived from civilian GPS, whether via smart phone, iPad, or Rifleman Radio, in lieu of or even in addition to their less convenient but more reliable military GPS devices, should reconsider that recommendation in light of the above. 

    There is no argument to the statement that the DoD owes the warfighter more modern, integrated, compact, battery-efficient PNT devices incorporating military GPS. Those will come through the acquisition process, though not as fast as we all would like. In reality, a proliferation of civil PNT devices in military operations will likely delay further the availability of more suitable integrated military equipment. 

    In the meantime, we should not be misled because of our experience in today’s war. Instead, we must plan for future actions in anti-access/area denial situations against knowledgeable adversaries. We cannot afford to undermine the warfighters’ cause in advance by advocating reliance on vulnerable and exploitable commercial GPS equipment that can get them killed.

    Jules McNeff is vice president for strategy and programs for Overlook Systems Technologies. He served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, and then was responsible for Defense Department management and oversight of the GPS program. He is a charter member of GPS World’s Editorial Advisory Board.