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Defense Bill 2018: GPS Backup Demo, Use Other GNSS

November 10, 2017

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Written by Editor

Architect of the Capital Photo

The House and Senate agreed Wednesday on the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2018. It included at least two provisions of interest to our readers:

SEC. 1606. DEMONSTRATION OF BACKUP AND COMPLEMENTARY POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, AND TIMING CAPABILITIES OF GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM – Requires the Departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security to conduct a $10M technology demonstration/ proof of concept for a GPS backup system.  This demonstration is to be based upon information gathered from a requirements and alternatives analysis study mandated by last year’s NDAA.

SEC. 1607. ENHANCEMENT OF POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, AND TIMING CAPACITY – Requires the Secretary of Defense to ensure DoD receivers incorporate Europe’s Galileo and Japan’s QZSS satellite signals along side GPS in order to improve accuracy and resiliency. It also directs the secretary to assess use of non-allied satellite navigation in DoD receivers.

Excerpt of Conference Report for These Two Sections

Entire Conference Report Available Here

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