Image: US DOT Volpe Center
What’s New: Another look at what DOT is doing and a bit of speculation on why and where it is headed.
Why It’s Important: Understanding the government’s motivation and therefore, perhaps, its goals and next steps can be key for companies wanting to help.
What Else to Know: Some additional thoughts from us:
- The article speculates that the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel have done much to highlight GPS/GNSS vulnerability and the need for complementary systems (CPNT). Clearly true. And this may be the reason for recent movement on this within DOT.
- We also wonder if DNI has finally issued the report the Senate mandated for FY 22 on threats to GPS and its vulnerability. The report is undoubtedly classified, but we took a guess at what it would say and are sure the DNI version is even scarier. Perhaps that report is finally being read by folks who care and are able to do something. We have a sense that some in the Senate are very concerned.
- DOT has said that resilient PNT in the U.S. will involve a system-of-systems approach with signals from space, fiber, and terrestrial broadcast.
- One of DOT’s CPNT initiatives not mentioned in the article is its RFI about interest in providing commercial eLoran services. This, coupled with actions the UK has already taken, could help indicate one of the directions DOT is headed.
- The U.S. government has been criticized by industry for advising commercial and public GPS users to protect themselves from disruptions, but has failed to do anything to protect itself. Federal systems and applications are as at much risk as are commercial and private ones.
- Finally, we agree things do seem to be moving on CPNT within DOT. We will reserve judgement, though, on “urgently seeks” in the article’s title until we see an RFP.
