When will Russia attack GPS?
At the risk of appearing to be just another “doomsday conspiracy theorist”, this is a matter that deserves some serious consideration...
In mid-November, Russia destroyed a retired satellite with a ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon. This created significant debris, which endangered other assets in low-Earth orbit, including the International Space Station (ISS). Two Russian cosmonauts were serving on the seven-person ISS crew at the time.
Two weeks later, Russia followed up the ASAT demonstration with the boast that they could destroy all 32 Global Positioning System satellites at once, blinding the U.S. and NATO.
While others see that as reckless and irresponsible, Russian officials almost certainly see it as an expression of resolve. That was actually another message. They were saying, “We are willing to endanger our own equipment and people.”
Translate that to their concern about keeping Ukraine from joining NATO and otherwise falling into the West’s sphere of influence. It might be, “We are willing to accept the pain in order to keep Ukraine from leaving our orbit.”
Unfortunately, I am not sure most Western leaders picked up on the “We are resolved” message.
Our reliance upon satellite navigation systems today warrants some “what if” thinking and planning. The fact is that accurate and precise navigation does not require GPS, but what would the average person do without GPS?
Being prepared to navigate ‘the old-fashioned way’ doesn’t require all that much time and effort. Though, just as with some of the other calamity scenario’s, the real problem with losing GPS would be having to deal with the multitudes that are unprepared.
Semper Paratus!
/fl