17 December 2004
President George W Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling the US network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis. The move is to prevent terrorists from using the system.
But there is really nothing to worry about, says AOPA President Phil Boyer. Such a shutdown would occur only under ‘remarkable circumstances’.
AOPA says it worked with the administration to draft the new policy and there is nothing in there to threaten GA users.
The president has also instructed the Defence Department to develop plans to disable, in certain areas, an enemy’s access to the US navigational satellites and to similar systems operated by others.
The European Union is developing a $US4.8 billion GPS system called Galileo.
Any government-ordered shutdown or jamming of the GPS satellites would be done in ways to limit disruptions to navigation and related systems outside the affected area, the White House said.
President Bill Clinton abandoned the practice in May 2000 of deliberately degrading the accuracy of civilian navigation signals, a technique known as ‘selective availability.’
The White House said it would not reinstate that practice, but said the president could decide to disable parts of the network for national security purposes.
