SPS v. PPS: Why Military GPS Applications Require 쳌MilitaryŽ GPS

John T. Kelly

Abstract: The beneficial impact of the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a warfighting tool has been well established since its primary inception. A broad array of receivers and integrated systems exploiting its ability to provide highly precise time, position, and thus global navigation has substantially increased the U.S. military’s (and its allies’) accuracy and ultimate efficiency in many areas (such as troop deployment, weapons guidance, and even logistical tracking) with the commercial marketplace being quick to adopt and adapt GPS for non-military applications. The additional costs and complexities inherent in enabling Precise Positioning Service / PPS or “military GPS” operation (by virtue of including decoding circuitry for encrypted code access and other technology to accommodate additional requirements for acquisition in high jamming environments and robustness) as well as the restricted nature of accessing such equipment can often make the low cost, easily obtained commercial Standard Positioning Service (SPS) GPS technology appear desirable for military developments and even operational fielding. Significant issues exist, however, including resultant operational tradeoffs and increased exposure to the specific forms of threat that PPS GPS was (and is being) developed in part to directly counteract. This paper presents a framework for developing an evaluation of SPS and PPS positives and negatives of use within a military operational environment. Several examples of prior SPS inclusion within the military problem space and resulting effects and risks are presented as are PPS-enabled rationales to contrast several of the issues in applying civilian GPS to the warfighter environment. In addition, discussion is presented to further highlight the need for truly equivalent comparisons of systems when evaluating potential commercial GPS integrations versus militarily designed products and systems. The paper is positioned to develop into a primer aimed at assisting the technical developer or program manager for military systems to perform a qualitative GPS evaluation of applicability using the topics presented here.
Published in: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004)
September 21 - 24, 2004
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, CA
Pages: 533 - 543
Cite this article: Kelly, John T., "SPS v. PPS: Why Military GPS Applications Require 쳌MilitaryŽ GPS," Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004), Long Beach, CA, September 2004, pp. 533-543.
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