Russian company has provided Iraq with a system that destroys GPS

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of a Russian company's provision of a system to Iraq that disrupts GPS navigation for onboard cruise missiles. Participants explore the feasibility of jamming GPS systems, the potential for reprogramming guided missiles mid-flight, and the technical challenges associated with these processes.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the feasibility of jamming GPS systems and whether it is possible to reprogram guided missiles to new coordinates while in flight.
  • Another participant suggests that while jamming GPS is possible by flooding the frequency, reprogramming a missile's targeting computer is a different challenge that may require mimicking satellite signals.
  • A third participant states that jamming GPS signals is relatively straightforward but requires powerful equipment, which could expose the jammer to counterattacks. They note that GPS-guided munitions revert to less precise guidance methods if the signal is lost.
  • Another participant agrees that jamming is easy but mentions that previous jammers have failed, and emphasizes the difficulty of spoofing military GPS signals due to encryption.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility of reprogramming missiles mid-flight and the effectiveness of jamming GPS signals. There is no consensus on the technical capabilities or limitations of these systems.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the challenges of GPS jamming and spoofing, including the need for powerful equipment and the encryption of military GPS signals. The discussion reflects uncertainty regarding the technical details and practical implications of these systems.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals studying military technology, electronic warfare, or those curious about the implications of GPS technology in modern warfare.

ranyart
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It has been said that a russian company has provided Iraq with a system that destroys GPS navagational status of onboard cruise missiles, rendering the missile to be co-ordinless?

As the first of these missiles that have been 'un-guided', how simple is it to actually 'jam' GPS sytems?..is it feasable?

Surely if one has such a system, then it is just as feasible that with todays technology, you could re-programme any 'GUIDED' system, to another co-ordinate, whilst the missil is still in flight? The speed of 're-guidence' systems could be used to send the missile back to where it originated from?

Is this situation possible?
 
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Possible, maybe. But not with the same tech as a jamming device. A J-Dams bomb or missile receives radio signals from sattelites and, if I understand correctly, a jammer floods that radio frequency, so the guidence system is unable to receive. Recieving that signal is quite different from programming a target. To re-task the device to a new target would require reprogramming the targetting computer.

Or maybe it could be done by precisely mimicing the sattelite's signal, and convincing the missile it was at whatever location you tell it.
 
It's actually quite easy to jam a GPS signal: you just transmit on the same frequency with more power. However, your jamming equipment needs to be fairly powerful to do the job properly -- even more so when GPS III comes out next decade -- and that makes it rather easy to pinpoint whatever's doing the jamming.

It's a fair bet that unlucky person would quickly become a target for lots of non-GPS guided weaponry.

All GPS-guided munitions will fallback to more primitive methods of guidance if they lose the signal. Cruise missiles usually have TV guidance systems; JDAMs and bombs might just go back to inertial guidance (become dumb bombs again).

The military GPS signal is heavily encrypted, so spoofing it is basically impossible.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/02/mil-030211-03349afpn.htm
 
It's actually quite easy to jam a GPS signal: you just transmit on the same frequency with more power.
Maybe not as easy as it would seem - none of the jammers did their job and one was even taken out by a jdam.

Ranyart, it is possible to spoof gps and make it give inaccurate positions (for military gps you need to break the encryption to do that) but to make it give specific inaccurate positions to gain guidance control of a missile would be pretty much impossible.