Russian Military GPS service in Ossetia, Georgia - Was it Tinkered With?

Question

I was reading a russian music trading forum today and they were talking about a Pat Buchanon article of all things. Some crazy stuff was accused (in the discussion, not the buchanon article) that I had a hard time believing. Basically its this...

1. Ossetia is not covered by the geolocation system used by their military, so they used western ally sold gps units to coordinate and monitor troop movements during the operations.

2. As soon as fighting broke out, the precision of the units they used was reduced to ~300 Meters, making them useless for their desired aims.

Is there anything published in the western media on this story, and are either of the 2 claims even slightly credible? It sounds like the echos of a paranoid nationalist rumor mill to me, but I wanted to check facts.

Answer 1

WW 3 IS OVERDUE!!!

Answer 2

several hints:

the GPS is originated in the US. There was an embedded error, rendering artificial positioning errors when operated with non-trusted /non NATO-allied/ receivers.

the embedded error was removed on command of Pres. Clinton, basically to the D-GPS which removed the error. Simply said the GPS position with error was readout at known position, then the corrective signal was transmitted to the compliant receiver units. this terminated the artificial error.

The GPS is space-based, so there is not place WITHOUT coverage /unless you have limited line of sight onto the sky - blocked sky means less available satelites for positioning.

THe RUssians operate their genuine GPS-comparable system, called GLONASS. global satellite navigation system in russian.

Because of this i dare to state:

Russians have limited map coverage or /more likely/ limited

computerized map coverage to work with in Ossetia.

Russians have both capacity and capability to eliminate embedded errors of western GPS

Russians are able to use their own GPS equivalent

Most of Russian aircraft amunition use different means of homing - inertial, laser, radar, optical systems. they do not use the GPS homing.

If GPS homing systems would have been used and would fail, Russians would shuffle to other means of guidance within hours - note the nonexistent Georgian air defense, letting russian  attack planes deliver free fall bombs.

to the DGPS - imagine you know position of your beacon/house/whatever. you use your GPS and find out that your house has "moved" N meters north and E meters east - but you did not noticed that :) now the values N, E are offset /correction you start to transmitt to cooperating receiver units, who then are able to solve the problem.

the actual principle of the embedded error was linked to the universal time being used by the satellites- the signal received has a time stamp, that is used to calculate the distance of the receiver from the satellite /yes - the travel time of the radio signal is measured/ - thus, the correction is not uniform, N meters north and E meters east, but rather in the form of more sophisticated, math formula.

Answer 3

First off, Russia doesn't have GPS systems that they control on a large scale.

There are two systems, the US and the one coming online by the French. US systems are adjustably accurate for civilian purposes to a few feet, but infinitively more accurate for Military ones, down to a couple inches.

It is not only possible that the signal was distorted, it is likely.  

Answer 4

Why do you think we Europeans are trying to develop our own system?

GPS was developed by the US military. It's not inconceivable it would suddenly stop working if US interests needed this to happen.

Who can blame the US. It makes sense. It's the same with google maps - some areas don't have that high levels of zoom, in Afghanistan for example.

Answer 5

Id advise you to halt your classified info seeking! the CIA and KGB will not be happy with you

Answer 6

I love babble from those that know nothing about electronics in any form. A couple of the answers above me come from folks wearing tin foil hats.

To keep it short there are 26 or so orbiting satellites. It has  frequencies for the military and some for civilian use. The accuracy of the receivers depends on the mapping software embedded in the receiver. If you have ever seen guy's wander the streets with funny looking poles looking like a single man survey you are seeing the "base" of the accuracy. They use the data collected at different points. The more data you enter (how far apart your inputs are) will determine the accuracy ft or inches. That's why you can get voice guided maps. Cloud cover, trees, hills, bridges, buildings can all play in the equation too. The more birds you get a "ping" from the higher the accuracy too.

Read the article at the link. I do not have the time to teach you what I learned in 27 years of various types of electronic repairs, teaching..yada yada yada.

SSG US Army 73-82

Avionics/Signal

2 years @ Lawrence Labs Livermore

21 years Banking and Security Systems

   Data Comm

   CCTV

   Encryption

   Tracking Devices (spooky)

   Covert Installs

Edit: The other modern means of nav are radio based.. See the addtional link. In short, when you know where a fixed transmittter is that is step 1. steps 2 and 3 are the 2n and 3rd xmitters. You have a map on your aircraft carrier, the computers are down, you dial in 3 Loarn stations, the Loran tells you where you are. You find that on the map. When the computer is up all the necc. info is in the computer and you willl get told where you are nad how to get to where you want to be. Accuracy is still subject to the data base or how well the map is drawn,

Answer 7

yes I believe there is a system called Selective Availability which can be turned on when needed.

Answer 8

Well thats what happens when you use a western system aginst a western ally......

Answer 9

I have no idea if there is any merit to the story.  I will tell you that until very recently, when military satellites were made available to civilian GPS systems,  (making them DGPS, or Differential GPS) that 300 meters was as good as they got, so someone using a GPS built in the 80's or early 90's, for civilian use - this is about the expected resolution.