MILITARY

The three uses of GPS in warfare are navigating, timing and positioning. GPS was first heavily used in Operation Desert Storm. Operation Desert Storm was termed as the first "space war" (Gruber & Anderson, 2013). Operation Desert Storm was the foreign war between Iraq and U.S, which U.S fought to protect the sovereignty of Kuwait (ushistory.org, n.d.). In Operation Desert Storm, GPS was integral to the success of General Norman Schwarzkopf "left hook" strategy. The strategy involved flanking the Iraqi troops by moving his troops westward (Carr, 2014). GPS led to the success of the "left hook" strategy by preventing friendly fire among ranks, and ensuring the timely arrival of food and supplies (Carr, 2014).

GPS was integrated in Pave Low Helicopters. During Operation Desert Storm, the atomic clock found in GPS allowed the pilots to synchronize their attack, which involved hitting 2 sites within 20 seconds interval (Carr, 2014).

Hellfire Missiles used in Operation Desert Storm were incorporated with GPS technology. Coordinates are inputed into the missile and the missile is guided to the targeted coordinates (Carr, 2014).

GPS is essential in Combat Search and Rescue Mission. During Operation Desert Storm, a team of Navy Seal was tasked to undergo a highly classified mission off the coast of Kuwait. After the mission was completed, GPS was used to precisely locate their position and the team was safely exfiltrated (Carr, 2014).

GPS is imperative for the Navy to conduct Minesweeping operations (Carr, 2014). Imagine conducting Minesweeping operation without GPS.

Satellites are used by the U.S to track China submarines movement. Using "Electro Optical", satellites can detect disturbance in the ocean and this is used to shadow the submarines (Brown, 2010)

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Satellites are used for Espionage purposes. The Defense Support Program initiated Operation Corona, a program designed by the U.S to launch satellites for capturing images of Russia military activities. Satellite reconnaissance managed to produce image that prove U.S had the missiles advantage over Russia (Trahair, 2004). This was during the cold war period in August 1960 (Trahair, 2004).

Missions include intelligence gathering, navigation and location services. Example of intelligence gathering would be the aerial satellite footage of Osama’s compound. The use of satellite imagery makes it possible for the military to gain visual access to places that they have no physical access to, or would be highly dangerous to go into.

Reconnaissance satellites could be used to track and monitor the movement of enemy forces, the development of weapons systems such as nuclear weapons, as well as intelligence on enemy progress and advancements (Ghosh, 2010). Reconnaissance satellites could also be used to capture digital images and be sent back to Earth via canisters attached to parachutes or sent back via encrypted links (Ghosh, 2010).

ISatellites are commonly used in the military for tactical communication purposes. It could be used to provide communication links to ships, submarines and even aircrafts. Ground terminals include vehicular ones, as well as light weight portable ones.

Besides merely conveying voice data, which military radios in the past were already capable of, tactical satellite communications has capabilities for the transfer of files, pictures, voice data, and even provides teleconferencing functionalities (King & Riccio, n.d.). However, satellite communication signals are susceptible to signal jamming and interception, which puts the conveyance or transmission of highly classified information at risk for compromise. (King & Riccio, n.d).

Military satellite communications operate in several bands of signals, such as the Ku, Ka, and the C band. Such bands possess different properties, such as the varying levels of penetration power, distance coverage, as well as their susceptibility to interceptions and of course, costs.

Satelllites have different orbits , where Geo-synchronous satellites orbits togther with the Earth’s rotation, staying at the same spot in the sky. Military satellites can be of LEO ( Low Earth Orbit) as well, which are more applicable for image capture and intelligence purposes.

Some advantages of using satellite links as a means of communication in the military would be the ability to allow for communication over long distances, in contrast to that of the traditional radio sets, which have limited ranges.

Also, the ability to engage in reconnaissance and spying missions would allow the military to retrieve vital information, that would give them the upperhand in times of war, and this allows them to formulate measures or strategies based on these information. These satellites could also be self sustainable as they can work on solar power. (Not applicable for ground stations of course)

Some of the disadvantages include the fact that these satellite infrastructure are very costly to build, especially varieties that are intended for heavy duty purposes. In addition, once these satellites are deployed into space, they would be susceptible to space debris and junk, which could wreck or destroy the satellites upon collision. Also, in the event that these satellites malfunctions, it would take a considerable amount of time for the military to rectify these damages.

These communication links may not be 100% safe as these satellite links are susceptible and vulnerable to interception and jamming from enemy forces. This problem however, could be mitigated using an encryptor, rendering any intercepted information useless as they would not be able to decipher it.

Heavy duty Earth stations and terminals may be bulky and hard to transport around, and thus would have to rely on vehicular means to be moved around. (Although they have portable ones as well) Satellite communications arent a fool-proof solution as well, as the would be affected by environmental factors such as the thickness of cloud cover as well as the line of siight to the satellite in space for a link to be substantially established.

They therefore have to be deployed in open spaces and would require cover and concealment via camoflaging, to prevent being captured from an aerial view and risk compromise. Also, these satellite signals run the risk of receiving interferrence from adjacent commercial signals, which may prove undesirable.

RECONNAISSANCE AND INTELLIGENCE

SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

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Global Positioning System (GPS)

I Hate War. Absolutely, I Hate War

General Norman Schwarzkopf

Espionage

A video showing how satellite reconnaisance workedbout you.

But did you know that satellites can be used to spy on us?