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What’s new: An article about challenges operating in the Arctic which include degradation or denial of GNSS. Contributors to degradation can include low elevation of satellites, terrain, and Earth’s electromagnetic field.
Why it’s important:
- The Arctic is a contested area in which Russia is dominant. In addition to the advantages mentioned in the article, GLONASS generally performs a bit better in the arctic (more inclined orbits) and they have far more icebreakers than the rest of the world combined.
- Russian missiles attacking the U.S. and Canada would come through the Arctic. Golden Dome and other defensive measures need resilient PNT.
- Most communications and IT applications require PNT.
What else to know:
- Last year the US Department of Defense published a new Arctic Strategy. The need for resilient PNT did not feature in it at all.
- As the Arctic warms it will not necessarily be easier to access. For example, frozen seas are stable and can be safely navigated by an icebreaker. Stormy seas filled with large chunks of broken ice are much more dangerous. More turbulent weather will also erode shorelines and change bottom features of the ocean and coastal areas faster.
- The Arctic is devoid of most infrastructure people take for granted elsewhere. Those who go there must take everything with them.
Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire
NATO militaries and startups aim to tackle the unique challenges of fighting in the Arctic, as the risk of conflict there increases
Sending drones and robots into battle, rather than humans, has become a tenet of modern warfare. Nowhere does that make more sense than in the frozen expanses of the Arctic.
But the closer you get to the North Pole, the less useful cutting-edge technology becomes. Magnetic storms distort satellite signals; frigid temperatures drain batteries or freeze equipment in minutes; navigation systems lack reference points on snowfields.
During a seven-nation polar exercise in Canada earlier this year to test equipment worth millions of dollars, the U.S. military’s all-terrain arctic vehicles broke down after 30 minutes because hydraulic fluids congealed in the cold.
