US Policy: Balancing Military and Civil Needs for the Global Positioning System in the 21st Century

Joseph P. Lortie Jr.

Abstract:	GPS continues to emerge as a key information technology, both as a military force enhancement tool and a global utility for the commercial marketplace. Although originally designed as a military positioning, navigation, and timing system, the constellation is rapidly becoming the foundation for a global utility that simultaneously supports a myriad of military, civil, and commercial applications. The result of this growing dependence on this satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing source has placed GPS in a situation in which military and civil needs, objectives, and demands are becoming orthogonal in many instances. This paper will focus on several key conflicting objectives that are driven by both National Security and economic prosperity while addressing potential alternatives to ensure that the future success of this national asset is assured, and the costs if they are not resolved.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1999) June 27 - 30, 1999 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	29 - 36
Cite this article:	Lortie, Joseph P., Jr., "US Policy: Balancing Military and Civil Needs for the Global Positioning System in the 21st Century," Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1999), Cambridge, MA, June 1999, pp. 29-36.
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