A rchive Date
[ 10-01-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.msnbc.com/news/857322.asp?0sl=-23
Iraqis may have GPS jammers
Up to 200 blocking devices may have been sold, officials say
By Jim Miklaszewski
NBC NEWS
Jan. 9 NBC News has learned from senior U.S. officials that the Iraqi government is believed to have bought a large number ? perhaps 200 of Russian-made global positioning system jammers, which can disrupt GPS signals. The devices, each about the size of a cigar box, may be able to fool the precision-guided bombs and missiles that would form the backbone of the U.S. military arsenal in a war with Iraq.
"THEY HAVE BEEN trying to buy them," said one U.S. official. "They have been in the market. They are not that difficult to obtain, so we have to believe that they have them. The question is their effectiveness."
The concern is so great that the U.S. Air Force is testing some weapons against the jammers. The United States anticipates that more than 80 percent of the munitions used in any war on Iraq would be precision-guided munitions using GPS.
One official said the jammers' "effectiveness is questionable," claiming that only a broad network of such equipment could throw U.S. bombs off target. Some officials fear that the Iraqis would put the jammers on mosques and residential buildings, but Air Force officials do not believe that is possible.
The Pentagon is believed to have long had the capability to jam GPS signals. Some experts in nonmilitary applications of GPS technology have said that the Defense Department has likely been selectively jamming GPS signals in Afghanistan since the start of the air campaign in October 2001.
Commercial airlines rely on GPS technology for transoceanic navigation. GPS receivers, which sell for about $100, have increasingly been used by hikers, commuters and law enforcement agencies.
NBC's Robert Windrem contributed to this report
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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