Jammed Up

Proponents of the High-Integrity Global Positioning System argue that it would deliver a much-needed defense against GPS signal jamming within a year (see our new story on the program here).

But how pressing is the need for such a device, and how widespread is the jamming tactic among the usual of suspects of rogue nations and potential peer competitors?

According to Jim Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Russians, the Chinese and probably the Iranians have the capability right now.

"Everybody who has a brain is trying to figure out how to do this," he told us.

Commercially available Russian-made technology is available today that could be used to "jam your entire neighborhood," Lewis said.

(It is unclear how useful these devices would be in military operations, however, given that anti-jamming technology exists already to account for attempts to scramble the signal.)

"Jamming of electromagnetic signals is fairly widespread and conducted by a number of nations," one defense official wrote in an e-mail. "It is a widespread enough practice that the U.S. believes we need a robust capability to operate in a jammed environment as soon as possible."

As for HIGPS, officials will conduct initial operational tests with the technology in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility next year, Alan Shaffer, the principal deputy director of defense research and engineering, told us yesterday during a brief telephone interview.

He declined to narrow down where exactly the tests would take place. (The PACOM area, of course, is enormously large. It includes China.)

But the secrecy surrounding the test location doesn't mean the gear will be used as part of some classified operation, Shaffer maintained. It's just that "we don't typically go ahead and talk about specific things we're doing ahead of time," he said.