Image: Copilot AI
What’s new: An opinion piece by the former Commander, USAF Space Command, Gen. William Shelton (ret).
Why it’s important:
- It has recently become public knowledge that Russia can interfere with GPS (and Bei Dou) from space across broad sections of the globe and has been able to do so since at least 2019.
- Even if it is never energized, just having the capability is a powerful tool in great power competition/conflict.
- The U.S. is more vulnerable to such weapons than Russia or China because of our over-reliance on GPS in almost every facet of technology and life.
- Gen. Shelton has as much or more credibility on these issues than almost anyone.
What else to know:
- There is reason to believe China has similar, probably more, capability.
- The RNT Foundation is proud to have Gen. Shelton as a member of its board of directors.
Help GPS resiliency against Russia with this one simple change
GPS vulnerability is a serious national security issue and many federal departments have a role. But if this is everyone’s responsibility, no one is responsible.
A recent article in the New York Times has far-reaching and ominous implications for the United States. It reports on findings from researchers at the University of Texas that Russian satellites have been purposely interfering with GPS signals across a broad swath of northern Europe, Greenland and Canada since 2019.
These interference events are evidence of an electronic weapon being covertly exercised. They have been sporadic, very short duration, slightly offset from the main GPS signal, and very difficult to detect. The same satellites have been interfering with Bei Dou, China’s satellite navigation system in a nearly identical way since 2020. This seems to remove any doubt as to the Russian system’s intent and purpose.
While similar events have not been observed in the US, the Russian satellites are able to reach anywhere on the globe. And Moscow has a history of interfering and threatening to interfere with GPS to further its own goals.
