GPS Megadeath

From: Stuf4 (tdadamemd-spamblock-_at_excite.com)
Date: 06/17/04 

Date: 17 Jun 2004 06:55:45 -0700

>From Steve Hix:
news:<sehix-81109B.22350016062004@dsl081-079-101.sfo1.dsl.speakeasy.net>...
> > From Ami Silberman:
> > > "Stuf4" <tdadamemd-spamblock-@excite.com> wrote
> > > > From Steve Hix:
>
> > > > > What offensive weaponry, in particular?
> > > >
> > > > This was addressed early on in this thread. Examples given from that
> > > > June 12th post are ICBMs as offensive space weaponry,
>
> They're just *very* long-range artillery. Not space-based currently,
> either.
>
> > > > and GPS as providing offensive weaponry capability.
>
> Among *thousands* of other uses.
>
> You might as well class penicillin, ambulances, packaged food as
> offensive weapons.
>
> Try again.

>From Steve Hix:
news:<sehix-41C826.22365316062004@dsl081-079-101.sfo1.dsl.speakeasy.net>...
> In article <d3af8584.0406162117.3a026afa@posting.google.com>,
> tdadamemd-spamblock-@excite.com (Stuf4) wrote:
>
> > As far as "populating" in orbit, I was referring specifically here to
> > the constellation of GPS satellites that tie in to nuclear subs,
> > nuclear bombers, and GPS bombs themselves.
>
> And civilian ambulances, boy scout troops, luxury cars, fishing boats,
> airliners, etc. etc. etc.
>
> Again, you might as well class cell phones as offensive weapons.

The fact that offensive nuclear strike capability was the primary
driver for developing and funding NavSTAR-GPS is not lost to everyone.

_________________

http://www.trimble.com/gps/dod.html

Why Did the Department of Defense Develop GPS?

In the latter days of the arms race the targeting of ICBMs became such
a fine art that they could be expected to land right on an enemy's
missile silos. Such a direct hit would destroy the silo and any
missile in
it. The ability to take out your opponent's missiles had a profound
effect on the balance of power.

But you could only expect to hit a silo if you knew exactly where you
were launching from. That's not hard if your missiles are on land, as
most of them were in the Soviet Union. But most of the U.S. nuclear
arsenal was at sea on subs. To maintain the balance of power the U.S.
had to
come up with a way to allow those subs to surface and fix their exact
position in a matter of minutes anywhere in the world.... Hello GPS! 

---
http://www.trimble.com/gps/why.html
....the U.S. Department of Defense decided that the military had to 
have a super precise form of worldwide positioning. And fortunately
they
had the kind of money ($12 billion!) it took to build something really
good. 
The result is the Global Positioning System, a system that's changed 
navigation forever.
_________________
NavSTAR could easily have been named "Deathstar".
For anyone interested in a more detailed short history of GPS, here is
a link that includes the Air Force nuclear strike efforts with their
MOSAIC and 621B programs along with the Navy contributions:
http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/summer2002/01.html
~ CT

Relevant Pages

  • GPS Megadeath
    ... >> nuclear bombers, and GPS bombs themselves. ... you might as well class cell phones as offensive weapons. ... missile silos. ...
    (sci.space.history)
  • GPS Megadeath
    ... >> nuclear bombers, and GPS bombs themselves. ... you might as well class cell phones as offensive weapons. ... missile silos. ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Conventionally-Armed Trident Missiles.
    ... GPS terminal guidance is envisioned for such a ICBM-based ... guidance system used by the cruise missiles of that day. ... >> B-52 or the SLCM...all have demonstrated a nuclear delivery capability, ...
    (sci.military.naval)
  • Re: GPS has basically two functions
    ... You can use your GPS receiver to tell you wether a nuclear bomb has ... GPS- and some other satelites are equipped with sensors to detect ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)