Lockheed Martin to build next-generation GPS system

The U.S. Air Force has announced that a team led by Lockheed Martin has won the competition to build the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) Space System program, known as GPS III.

Under the $1.4 billion Development and Production contract awarded by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., the team of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, ITT Corporation, and General Dynamics, will produce eight GPS IIIA satellites, with first launch projected for 2014. The development contract will result in approximately 500 new jobs for Lockheed Martin.

Eight GPS IIIB and 16 GPS IIIC satellites are planned for later increments, with each increment including additional capabilities based on technical maturity. When fully deployed, the GPS III constellation will feature a cross-linked command and control architecture, allowing the entire GPS constellation to be updated simultaneously from a single ground station. Additionally, a new spot beam capability for enhanced military (M-Code) coverage and increased resistance to hostile jamming will be incorporated. These enhancements will contribute to improved accuracy and assured availability for military and civilian users worldwide.

ITT will provide the navigation payload, and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems will provide the Network Communications Element (NCE) which includes the UHF Crosslink and Tracking Telemetry & Command (TT&C) subsystems.

Source: Lockheed Martin

More GPSs

The U.S. Air Force has exercised contract production options with Rockwell Collins for the purchase of 9,746 Defense Advanced GPS Receivers (DAGRs) and accessories.

The DAGR is the replacement for the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR) in integrated platforms as well as for the advanced and basic GPS user. It provides users, including Foreign Military Sales (FMS), with a GPS Precise Positioning System (PPS), hand-held, dual-frequency (L1/L2), lightweight receiver (less than one pound) with a built-in next generation, tamper-resistant GPS “SAASM” (Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module) Security module.

This is a modified firm fixed price contract for $21,765,082.

Source: DoD
Photo: Rockwell Collins

More money for GPS hardware

"Rockwell Collins, Inc., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a contract modification for $116,467,023. This action exercises production options for the purchase of 52,039 Defense Advanced GPS Receivers (DAGRs) and accessories.

The DAGR will provide authorized Department of Defense and Foreign Military Sales users of GPS User Equipment a Precise Positioning System, hand-held, dual-frequency (L1/L2), lightweight receiver (less than one pound) that incorporates the next generation, tamper-resistant GPS “SAASM” (Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module) security module.

The DAGR will serve as a replacement for the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver in integrated platforms as well as for the advanced and basic GPS user."

Source DoD
Photo: Rockwell Collins

Editor's Note: The "plugger" replacement program has been up and running for several years. The "dagger" is quite a piece of kit by comparison. Size and weight reductions were phenomenal. At the same time there are several points to note.

Military GPS must now face comparison with what is available to civilians. "Is this as easy to use as my TomTom or Garmin? Are the maps as easy to read" Does the DAGR do enough? Is a "simple" GPS enough of a tool? Is a PDA or radio combined with GPS a better option? Soldiers only have so many pockets.

Finally, SAASM is really not an option. It is a necessity especially for Blue Force awareness. Foreign military sales (FMS) only make sense in these days of combined ops.

Robot navigation in the absence of GPs

What happens to your autonomous or semi-autonomous robot when GPS data is not available? This has been a glaring difficulty for developers particularly of military robots.

A paper has recently been published that points to a possible way forward. Two researchers at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute are proposing the use of a cost-based algorithm with kalman and particle filters to produce position estimates. The algorithm has been demonstrated using a Crusher robot with some success. The paper is presented here (PDF).

Sources: As cited