The satellite gurus over at Air Force Space Command are making progress on modernizing the equipment, ground control systems, and military-user tools needed to upgrade the Global Positioning System. According to a Wednesday release from AFSPC, eight of the latest Block IIR replenishment satellites will be modernized with new military codes and a civil signal, and the first GPS IIR-M is scheduled for launch later this year. The new signals will provide less vulnerability to interference and increased performance in accuracy, availability, integrity and reliability.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
