[Mark]

Word is that the AirForce who operates our GPS system does not have the current funding needed in order to maintain the current fleet of GPS satellites and that if the upgrades and new equipment isn't put up in the skies soon, the systems will likely begin to fail starting some time next year without the upgrades. The GPS system is not an all on/off switch but would be a graded loss of service, with delayed location pinpointing and innaccurate results depending on how many functional satellites are over your position when you try to use the system. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but I guess aGPS will become more handy in the future huh

Source: CNet ( http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10...html?tag=mncol )

[JEllis]

Yeah I am sure all the Airlines, Ships, Missiles, Bombs, UAV's, and the worlds militaries are worried about the "failing" GPS system.

There is no way this is going to happen....a poorly disguised attempt at getting more funding perhaps...

Jason

[ragingclue]

Jesus.... The Air Force doesn't get enough? C'mon man, as a former member of the military, I fail to believe that Club Med can't cut fat here and there.... Definitely a ploy for more funds.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by JEllis

Yeah I am sure all the Airlines, Ships, Missiles, Bombs, UAV's, and the worlds militaries are worried about the "failing" GPS system.

There is no way this is going to happen....a poorly disguised attempt at getting more funding perhaps...

Jason

+1 absolutely don't buy it. GPS is absolutely mission critical for many missions, both miltary and commercial.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by swamp2

+1 absolutely don't buy it. GPS is absolutely mission critical for many missions, both miltary and commercial.

You forget the military would justify this threat by spending trillions of dollars for a switch that gives bandwidth priority to military and essential commercial functions only.

They probably already have.

[SoCali E36]

GREAT TIME TO INVEST IN GPS RELATED STOCKS IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. and im not talkin about gps units

[SoCali E36]

and yes i think its bullshit if u ask me.

[ptack]

Is it any wonder that people tend to distrust the government? Even if there is some truth to the need for funding, you know this announcement has been made in full cooperation with certain contractors who just happen to have a multi-billion dollar solution that just also happends to create nice jobs for certain airforce generals as well as provide donations to certain congressmen.

[jeremyc74]

That article is nothing more than hype with no sources. There is NO WAY IN HELL the US military is going to let a large, mission critical system with multiple redundancies built in degrade to the point where it's noticable to the public. Complete and total BS.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by ptack

Is it any wonder that people tend to distrust the government? .

That's not coming from the government, that's coming from the media, desperate to have something to talk about.

[spec 123]

Well what happened was, if someone was able and had broken into Armed Defense GPS, they have an exact pinpoint location of any or all ared/private security vehicles/aircraft/ships. With that said, they can track exatly where everything is. They have the funding to keep it open, they just dont have the funding to protect themselves and keep it private

[vase330]

Oh shit who is holding the sky? we need more hands to prevent the sky from falling!

[TunedM2C]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

That's not coming from the government, that's coming from the media, desperate to have something to talk about.

Yep, the swine flu is losing luster so it's time to move on to something else.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by spec 123

Well what happened was, if someone was able and had broken into Armed Defense GPS, they have an exact pinpoint location of any or all ared/private security vehicles/aircraft/ships. With that said, they can track exatly where everything is. They have the funding to keep it open, they just dont have the funding to protect themselves and keep it private

You can't track someone's position from the space based GPS transmitters. The units we're all using are recievers only. They don't send any information back, and can't be tracked from any central location. The same goes for military GPS systems, they just have access to an encrypted band coming from the same satellites that increases accuracy beyond what civilian recievers can do.

[positiveions]

I was hoping the thread would say: GPS system will soon identify idiots on the road. Beware!!!!!

[Artz 330]

Originally Posted by eatrach73

I was hoping the thread would say: GPS system will soon identify idiots on the road. Beware!!!!!

"Fast moving vehicle approaching from rear, please get the f*ck out of the way immediately!"

[googoomas]

Originally Posted by JEllis

Yeah I am sure all the Airlines, Ships, Missiles, Bombs, UAV's, and the worlds militaries are worried about the "failing" GPS system.

There is no way this is going to happen....a poorly disguised attempt at getting more funding perhaps...

Jason

they wont cut their support, just ours in order to keep theirs stable...

[HighQ]

I would suggest pulling the article from the main page ASAP, it's not strictly BMW related and not very credible. Not a single poster in this thread believed it for a sec.

[pmeloche]

The lost art of reading a road map. That is so 1990.

[Bols]

lol okay, the oldest sattelite may be 20 years old, but if any they're just planning a giant military spy-op and they need to shift resources for a while lol. Something sounds off here, btw, europe's galileo gps-network is on the way aswell

@ high-Q : true, it is not very credible, but it is however, news around the globe, several big papers in my country have it on aswell, and I doubt holland, france etc will be far behind making it actual real news ? Anyways, my bmw-gps system sucked anyways, it always tells me i'm on the wrong road in middle of cities lol

[satinghostrider]

I think it could be a publicity stint to start charging to maintain such services.

[Antinontoxic]

omg... I am so glad that I read this before I left for my holidays in two hours. I might have enough time to print out the directions from GoogleMaps instead