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Technology Available to Jam Satellite Signals to Weapons
Aired September 24, 2002 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you may recall the awe inspired by the precision bombing used by U.S. forces during the Persian Gulf War. Now, more than a decade later, we learn those highly successful "smart" bombs may have an Achilles heel. The "Wall Street Journal" has a report today on the device that is cheap and easy to get, and that could be problematic for future surgical strikes.
Retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd joins us now from Tucson, Arizona -- good to see you, general.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, first of all, before we talk about these jammers, let's set up JDAM and explain quickly to viewers what we are talking about here.
SHEPPERD: OK. The JDAM is Joint Direct Attack Munition, and basically what it is, it's a satellite-guidance component that is put on the tail of a weapon. It moves the fins, it directs it to the set of coordinates that you program in.
Unfortunately, it has been called a satellite guided weapon. It is not satellite guided. It is guided by INS, or an inertial navigation system that guides it to the coordinates. The GPS mode of it basically updates and makes the INS more accurate. So, it is satellite-assisted, not satellite-guided. INS guided.
PHILLIPS: OK. Big difference. So then, let's talk about this article and the fact that these jammers -- you are able to purchase one on the Internet for 40 bucks. Is in the same type of jammer that the U.S. military would use?
SHEPPERD: Well, I will stay away from what the U.S. military would use, but it is the type of jammer that Saddam Hussein might use in Iraq.
Basically, it is very cheap to jam GPS signals. You can do it with these low-powered and cheap jammers. However, when we designed the weapon, we had this in mind. And what happens when the weapon basically gets information that it has lost the satellite signal, or it is being confused and jammed, it then reverts to its INS mode, its Inertial Navigation System. It makes it less accurate, but let me give you kind of a range.
Let's say it is a 5-meter, or 15-foot bomb with the GPS signal, it would go, maybe, to a 15 or 20 meter, a 45, 50, 60-foot bomb without it. Therefore, it doesn't mean -- with a blast radius of, say, 150 feet, that this is -- that it is a useless bomb by any means. It is just less accurate than it would be with the GPS signal.
PHILLIPS: Well, in an area like Baghdad, it is not like Afghanistan with this vast desert area. It is very small, so accuracy is so crucial. So does this concern you at all?
SHEPPERD: It does concern us, and of course, when you degrade the accuracy of precision munitions, it is still a concern. When you go in downtown Baghdad, in populated areas, and you want to hit a military vehicle that is next to a hospital, you want it to be very, very accurate. You want a 5-meter bomb. And if it is jammed, and goes to 15 or 20-meter, it could affect the accuracy. So Saddam Hussein has to think that by jamming it, it could divert some of our weapons into his populated areas, if he cares -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, General, have GPS signals ever been jammed in battle? Do we know that?
SHEPPERD: Again, I need to stay away from that. It is possible to jam GPS signals in battle. Whether or not it has actually been done and the effect of it is not something that I care to discuss right now, but it is possible, it just makes them less accurate and not useless.
PHILLIPS: Can we talk about what we really know with regard to the extent of our GPS's vulnerability?
SHEPPERD: Well, the GPS is vulnerable in that you can jam satellite signals. There is a commercial and a military use, and the commercial side is used to locate the military signal, if you will. So the military is much harder to jam, and it is a different signal entirely, but we are vulnerable.
On the other hand, again, it doesn't mean the weapons are useless, it just means that, maybe, their accuracy is two or three times the five or ten meters that you would like to have.
PHILLIPS: All right. Last question, quickly. Are efforts underway to upgrate (ph) the satellites -- upgrade the satellites, rather?
SHEPPERD: There are constant efforts to increase the reliability of the signal. All of those are highly classified. We won't be told what they are doing out there, but we are constantly looking at upgrading this accuracy and making sure the signals are reliable -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: General Don Shepperd, always a pleasure. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 24, 2002 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you may recall the awe inspired by the precision bombing used by U.S. forces during the Persian Gulf War. Now, more than a decade later, we learn those highly successful "smart" bombs may have an Achilles heel. The "Wall Street Journal" has a report today on the device that is cheap and easy to get, and that could be problematic for future surgical strikes.
Retired Air Force Major General Don Shepperd joins us now from Tucson, Arizona -- good to see you, general.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, first of all, before we talk about these jammers, let's set up JDAM and explain quickly to viewers what we are talking about here.
SHEPPERD: OK. The JDAM is Joint Direct Attack Munition, and basically what it is, it's a satellite-guidance component that is put on the tail of a weapon. It moves the fins, it directs it to the set of coordinates that you program in.
Unfortunately, it has been called a satellite guided weapon. It is not satellite guided. It is guided by INS, or an inertial navigation system that guides it to the coordinates. The GPS mode of it basically updates and makes the INS more accurate. So, it is satellite-assisted, not satellite-guided. INS guided.
PHILLIPS: OK. Big difference. So then, let's talk about this article and the fact that these jammers -- you are able to purchase one on the Internet for 40 bucks. Is in the same type of jammer that the U.S. military would use?
SHEPPERD: Well, I will stay away from what the U.S. military would use, but it is the type of jammer that Saddam Hussein might use in Iraq.
Basically, it is very cheap to jam GPS signals. You can do it with these low-powered and cheap jammers. However, when we designed the weapon, we had this in mind. And what happens when the weapon basically gets information that it has lost the satellite signal, or it is being confused and jammed, it then reverts to its INS mode, its Inertial Navigation System. It makes it less accurate, but let me give you kind of a range.
Let's say it is a 5-meter, or 15-foot bomb with the GPS signal, it would go, maybe, to a 15 or 20 meter, a 45, 50, 60-foot bomb without it. Therefore, it doesn't mean -- with a blast radius of, say, 150 feet, that this is -- that it is a useless bomb by any means. It is just less accurate than it would be with the GPS signal.
PHILLIPS: Well, in an area like Baghdad, it is not like Afghanistan with this vast desert area. It is very small, so accuracy is so crucial. So does this concern you at all?
SHEPPERD: It does concern us, and of course, when you degrade the accuracy of precision munitions, it is still a concern. When you go in downtown Baghdad, in populated areas, and you want to hit a military vehicle that is next to a hospital, you want it to be very, very accurate. You want a 5-meter bomb. And if it is jammed, and goes to 15 or 20-meter, it could affect the accuracy. So Saddam Hussein has to think that by jamming it, it could divert some of our weapons into his populated areas, if he cares -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, General, have GPS signals ever been jammed in battle? Do we know that?
SHEPPERD: Again, I need to stay away from that. It is possible to jam GPS signals in battle. Whether or not it has actually been done and the effect of it is not something that I care to discuss right now, but it is possible, it just makes them less accurate and not useless.
PHILLIPS: Can we talk about what we really know with regard to the extent of our GPS's vulnerability?
SHEPPERD: Well, the GPS is vulnerable in that you can jam satellite signals. There is a commercial and a military use, and the commercial side is used to locate the military signal, if you will. So the military is much harder to jam, and it is a different signal entirely, but we are vulnerable.
On the other hand, again, it doesn't mean the weapons are useless, it just means that, maybe, their accuracy is two or three times the five or ten meters that you would like to have.
PHILLIPS: All right. Last question, quickly. Are efforts underway to upgrate (ph) the satellites -- upgrade the satellites, rather?
SHEPPERD: There are constant efforts to increase the reliability of the signal. All of those are highly classified. We won't be told what they are doing out there, but we are constantly looking at upgrading this accuracy and making sure the signals are reliable -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: General Don Shepperd, always a pleasure. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
