Global Positioning System
Global
Positioning System or better known as GPS had turned the world into a giant
accessible map.
The U.S. Department of Defense built the U.S. version of GPS, Navstar GPS,
between
1989 and 1994. There has been 24 main satellites launched that constantly emit radio waves. Anyone with a GPS capable device can find
their exact coordinates. GPS has become an excellent tool for navigation. A
soldier with a GPS device can now navigate in the pitch dark or in any foreign
place without a map.
The navigation tool has proved useful in planning strike attacks of enemy
forces. A soldier that is
carrying a GPS device and meets enemy troops, can record the enemy's
position down to the longitude, latitude and altitude. By being able to send
those GPS
coordinates to fellow soldiers, the base camp,
headquarters and attack planes or boats the soldier has successfully
alerted all parties to the enemy’s exact location. Being able to instantly blow
the enemy's cover changed war.
The Gulf War illustrated the change. It has been stated that "Americans
feared the Iraqis would have an
advantage because they'd be fighting in the desert in their own country. But it
turns out the Americans had the advantage because they had GPS receivers. They
could navigate at night and in dust storms. They always knew exactly where they
were and where the Iraqis were."
GPS has increased accuracy in air strikes. Satellites are used to map the targets and guide the bombs and missiles. These strikes minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties. As time goes on, we are discovering more applications and depending more on GPS.
GPS has increased accuracy in air strikes. Satellites are used to map the targets and guide the bombs and missiles. These strikes minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties. As time goes on, we are discovering more applications and depending more on GPS.
Satellite's
During the Cold War, the Soviet satellites were used to spy on the Soviet Union. Both sides had nuclear missiles that were capable of reaching any city across the world in half an hour. Both sides also had had nuclear missiles on submarines. The United States began the Discoverer spy satellite program to watch how fast the Soviet Union was making missiles and where they were being sent. Discoverer 4, the first U.S. camera-carrying satellite, launched in 1959 but didn't reach orbit, but Discoverer 14 went up in 1960 and returned photos.. The Soviet Union also had satellites trained on the United States. It has been stated that "Reconnaissance satellites allowed both sides to look at the strategic assets of the other side and convince themselves that a sneak attack wasn't being prepared, These satellites gave everyone confidence that they knew what the enemy was doing. That kept tensions to a minimum. The satellites may well have prevented World War III." Modern spy satellites can do more than take photos. They can collect telephone, radio and Internet signals, adding to the ways commanders can guess about what's happening on the ground.
Predator Drone
Abraham Karem, is an engineer who had emigrated from srael. In 1980 in his garage located in Hacienda Heights outside Los Angeles he began to build an aircraft that would change everything. The project overflowed from his 3 car garage to his guest room and basement. When he had finished more than a year later, he wheeled into his driveway an odd, cigar-shaped craft that was destined to change the way the United States wages war. It was called Albatross.It was transported to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where it demonstrated the ability to stay in the air safely for up to 56 hours which was an extremely long time in what was then the crash-prone world of drones. Three different versions and more than a decade of development later, Karem’s modest-looking drone became the Predator. A lethal, remotely piloted plane that can in the air for more than a day before. If needed controllers thousands of miles away in the southwestern United States can launch Hellfire missiles toward targets they are watching on video
screens. The emergence of what are known as hunter-killer and surveillance
drones has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry. It has made it possible to
keep troops and vehicles out of the line of fire saving millions of dollars in
machinery and priceless loss of lives.