China Takes Aim at U.S. GPS System
China Takes Aim at U.S. GPS System
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 9:39 AM
By: Charles R. Smith
China has deployed special vans equipped with sophisticated electronics designed to jam U.S. GPS (global positioning satellite) satellite navigation signals. The fear inside the Pentagon is that China will deploy large numbers of these vans to jam GPS signals over large sections of its territory.
Intelligence officials are watching the vans carefully to assess their capabilities and to see whether China moves to export the technology to other nations like Iran. The U.S. intelligence agencies have photos of the vans, taken from space and on the ground, but are not sure how capable they are in jamming GPS-guided weapons in the American arsenal.
Iraq deployed similar technology during the Gulf war but was unable to exploit its capabilities because the U.S. quickly modified GPS bombs to home in on the jammers.
Pentagon officials are concerned that U.S. bombs and missiles may not have that same capability against the Chinese GPS systems.
Defense analysts noted that the recent Chinese anti-satellite missile test demonstrated a capability to destroy GPS and low orbit reconnaissance satellites. The weapons demonstrated by Beijing are aimed at destroying or degrading the U.S. GPS system. These weapons include the jamming vans, anti-satellite missiles, and cyber-warfare attacks against computers and communications systems.
Beijing obtained detailed information on the U.S. GPS system through the Clinton administration during the 1990s. Chinese military officers were given detailed briefings on construction, design, coding, and manufacturing GPS systems through President Clinton.
For example, in 1997, Chinese army officers were given a demonstration in Sunnyvale, Calif., by Ashtech, a maker of GPS receivers. The briefing for the PLAAF and Chinese Navy officers states, “Ashtech produces a receiver that uses both the U.S. GPS signals and the Russian GLONASS signals resulting in significantly greater availability and integrity.”
In 1999, the Clinton administration offered the PLAAF the latest in advanced “mobile radars,” command and control systems, GPS navigation, and “surveillance avionics” such as “air to air,” “air to ground,” and “surface area movement” surveillance radars.
The FAA documents forced from the Clinton administration by the Freedom of Information Act also show extensive briefings on GPS technology given to the PLAAF officers. One such document describes in English and Chinese the workings of the GPS “space segment” and the system’s “ground control segment” including the central control location in Colorado.
The document also details how GPS works using “triangulation from satellites” to “measure distances using the travel time of a radio signal” and “very accurate clocks.”
The Clinton gift of GPS technology to Beijing also gave the People’s Liberation Army a new offensive punch.
It is known that Chinese air force aircraft are often equipped with U.S. GPS receivers for navigation and more accurate bombing. In addition, many of the aircraft and missiles sold by China to Iran and Sudan are equipped with GPS systems.
One such example is the YJ-62 anti-ship missile being offered to Chinese military customers for export under the designation of C602.
The turbojet-powered missile has a range of 174 miles and flies a low level mission, skimming the sea surface at 98 feet. During the attack phase the missile dives under 30 feet to avoid defense detection.
The C602 resembles the U.S. Navy Tomahawk in that it has a conventional mid-body wing, which deploy after launch. The engine inlet is mounted slightly forward of a cruciform tail configuration.
The YJ-62 will arm Chinese navy guided-missile destroyers. Two of the new 052C destroyers under construction are fitted with four-canister launchers.
Chinese officials claimed that the C602 export version of the cruise missile uses a “strap-down laser ring gyro system coupled with GPS and agile frequency radar” for better attack targeting.
China is also deploying its DH-10 long-range cruise missile. The subsonic missile appears to be in the final stages of development. It is to be deployed on a three-launcher road mobile platform. The DH-10 has a 930-mile range.
Its guidance system is reportedly based on U.S. technology obtained by the Chinese during the Clinton administration, again using GPS navigation this time combined with electro-optical digital scene mapping for the final attack mode.
The Pentagon reported in 2003 that China had improved its ballistic missile force with U.S GPS technology. The improvements enable Chinese missiles to now accurately strike the U.S. base at Okinawa with “satellite-aided guidance” navigation technology obtained from America during the Clinton administration.
The Clinton administration was warned that the unbridled transfer of space technology would improve the Chinese offensive missile force. The Clinton GPS transfer and its military impact were documented in a 1997 Rand Corp. report forced from the U.S. Commerce Dept. by a federal lawsuit.
“The most troubling potential transfer to China is Rockwell’s proposed joint venture deal with the Shanghai Broadcast Equipment Factory and the Shanghai Avionics Corporation, the latter of which is a key enterprise of the Aviation Industries of China,” states the 1997 Rand report.
“Rockwell Collins Navigation and Communications Equipment Company, Ltd. will design, develop, and build Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation receivers systems for the Chinese market. These components have serious dual-use applications, since the acquisition of reliable GPS data can enhance, to varying degrees, the capacity of militaries to field highly accurate cruise and ballistic missiles, such as those used to intimidate Taiwan during March 1996.”
According to the 1997 Rand Corp. report on the Chinese Defense Industry, “More accurate GPS systems would enhance the PLA’s ability to carry out attacks against Taiwan’s military and industrial facilities, potentially reducing the ability of the Taiwanese military to defend itself against PRC coercive diplomacy.
"The use of GPS to enhance the accuracy of long-range Chinese cruise missiles, coupled with long-range sensors, would raise serious concerns for the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Pacific, and possibly circumscribe their ability to provide an effective deterrent in a crisis over Taiwan.”
http://tinyurl.com/ythgjj
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 9:39 AM
By: Charles R. Smith
China has deployed special vans equipped with sophisticated electronics designed to jam U.S. GPS (global positioning satellite) satellite navigation signals. The fear inside the Pentagon is that China will deploy large numbers of these vans to jam GPS signals over large sections of its territory.
Intelligence officials are watching the vans carefully to assess their capabilities and to see whether China moves to export the technology to other nations like Iran. The U.S. intelligence agencies have photos of the vans, taken from space and on the ground, but are not sure how capable they are in jamming GPS-guided weapons in the American arsenal.
Iraq deployed similar technology during the Gulf war but was unable to exploit its capabilities because the U.S. quickly modified GPS bombs to home in on the jammers.
Pentagon officials are concerned that U.S. bombs and missiles may not have that same capability against the Chinese GPS systems.
Defense analysts noted that the recent Chinese anti-satellite missile test demonstrated a capability to destroy GPS and low orbit reconnaissance satellites. The weapons demonstrated by Beijing are aimed at destroying or degrading the U.S. GPS system. These weapons include the jamming vans, anti-satellite missiles, and cyber-warfare attacks against computers and communications systems.
Beijing obtained detailed information on the U.S. GPS system through the Clinton administration during the 1990s. Chinese military officers were given detailed briefings on construction, design, coding, and manufacturing GPS systems through President Clinton.
For example, in 1997, Chinese army officers were given a demonstration in Sunnyvale, Calif., by Ashtech, a maker of GPS receivers. The briefing for the PLAAF and Chinese Navy officers states, “Ashtech produces a receiver that uses both the U.S. GPS signals and the Russian GLONASS signals resulting in significantly greater availability and integrity.”
In 1999, the Clinton administration offered the PLAAF the latest in advanced “mobile radars,” command and control systems, GPS navigation, and “surveillance avionics” such as “air to air,” “air to ground,” and “surface area movement” surveillance radars.
The FAA documents forced from the Clinton administration by the Freedom of Information Act also show extensive briefings on GPS technology given to the PLAAF officers. One such document describes in English and Chinese the workings of the GPS “space segment” and the system’s “ground control segment” including the central control location in Colorado.
The document also details how GPS works using “triangulation from satellites” to “measure distances using the travel time of a radio signal” and “very accurate clocks.”
The Clinton gift of GPS technology to Beijing also gave the People’s Liberation Army a new offensive punch.
It is known that Chinese air force aircraft are often equipped with U.S. GPS receivers for navigation and more accurate bombing. In addition, many of the aircraft and missiles sold by China to Iran and Sudan are equipped with GPS systems.
One such example is the YJ-62 anti-ship missile being offered to Chinese military customers for export under the designation of C602.
The turbojet-powered missile has a range of 174 miles and flies a low level mission, skimming the sea surface at 98 feet. During the attack phase the missile dives under 30 feet to avoid defense detection.
The C602 resembles the U.S. Navy Tomahawk in that it has a conventional mid-body wing, which deploy after launch. The engine inlet is mounted slightly forward of a cruciform tail configuration.
The YJ-62 will arm Chinese navy guided-missile destroyers. Two of the new 052C destroyers under construction are fitted with four-canister launchers.
Chinese officials claimed that the C602 export version of the cruise missile uses a “strap-down laser ring gyro system coupled with GPS and agile frequency radar” for better attack targeting.
China is also deploying its DH-10 long-range cruise missile. The subsonic missile appears to be in the final stages of development. It is to be deployed on a three-launcher road mobile platform. The DH-10 has a 930-mile range.
Its guidance system is reportedly based on U.S. technology obtained by the Chinese during the Clinton administration, again using GPS navigation this time combined with electro-optical digital scene mapping for the final attack mode.
The Pentagon reported in 2003 that China had improved its ballistic missile force with U.S GPS technology. The improvements enable Chinese missiles to now accurately strike the U.S. base at Okinawa with “satellite-aided guidance” navigation technology obtained from America during the Clinton administration.
The Clinton administration was warned that the unbridled transfer of space technology would improve the Chinese offensive missile force. The Clinton GPS transfer and its military impact were documented in a 1997 Rand Corp. report forced from the U.S. Commerce Dept. by a federal lawsuit.
“The most troubling potential transfer to China is Rockwell’s proposed joint venture deal with the Shanghai Broadcast Equipment Factory and the Shanghai Avionics Corporation, the latter of which is a key enterprise of the Aviation Industries of China,” states the 1997 Rand report.
“Rockwell Collins Navigation and Communications Equipment Company, Ltd. will design, develop, and build Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation receivers systems for the Chinese market. These components have serious dual-use applications, since the acquisition of reliable GPS data can enhance, to varying degrees, the capacity of militaries to field highly accurate cruise and ballistic missiles, such as those used to intimidate Taiwan during March 1996.”
According to the 1997 Rand Corp. report on the Chinese Defense Industry, “More accurate GPS systems would enhance the PLA’s ability to carry out attacks against Taiwan’s military and industrial facilities, potentially reducing the ability of the Taiwanese military to defend itself against PRC coercive diplomacy.
"The use of GPS to enhance the accuracy of long-range Chinese cruise missiles, coupled with long-range sensors, would raise serious concerns for the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Pacific, and possibly circumscribe their ability to provide an effective deterrent in a crisis over Taiwan.”
http://tinyurl.com/ythgjj
bin66 - 21. Nov, 00:52
