European GPS

On December 28 a Russian rocket boosted the Giove-A satellite into orbit from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. What was it for? The EU has decided that GPS (Navstar: Global Position System) is so effective, that they want one of their own called Galileo. So at great expense ($4B, before cost overruns), they are launching a constellation of 30 satellites (by 2010) to give them the capability that they already have using GPS, just using a different standard. This is actually a third standard, as there is also GLONASS, the Soviet version of GPS that has been operational for years as well. Which begs the question “Why?” Why spend $4-8 Billion to give you something that offers few feature benefits over what they already have?

Now the Euro’s will claim that it will offer better accuracy than the 15 meters that GPS gives (3-5 Meter accuracy is more typical), and are bragging 1 meter, and better penetration into buildings, and so on. But do we need that much accuracy? And that ignores that GPS is going to be augmented, and already Americans have WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), the Japanese have the MSAS (Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation System) and the Europeans have EGNOS (Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), which are just terrestrial radio stations that augment GPS to give accuracy down to the 3 meter level or better, and gives access to areas where mountains interfere, and so on.

The truth is that you can tell when the French are lying, because their lips are moving. And they are the major power in the EU. So just listen to what they are saying, and assume the exact opposite. The EU claims that unlike the American system, the Galileo system is planned to be under civilian control, and then they talk about the commercial benefits of multiple simultaneous standards? So if we flip that around, and assume the opposite, it clearly explains better than anything what is really going on.

Galileo is fundamentally a project that ensures the EU will have access to satellite-nav information no matter what happens politically in the world in the next 30 or 40 years. In other words, they don’t trust the U.S. and Washington, especially with what they’ve been doing or plan to do to us in the future. More and more they are seeing us as the enemy, and rather than cooperation, they want a more competitive/adversarial relationship (under the ruse of something else). They want to empower themselves and our enemies against us.

Think of this, if the U.S. were to go to war with another country, France wants to be free to sell them GPS (Galileo) based weapons, so they can have the same capabilities as our military does — without our military being able to turn it off. They also want to be able to sell them GPS jammers, like the Russians did to the Iraqi’s for GPS. Thus when they claim that this is a civilian toolfor civlian uses, it is really the exact opposite, which is why they want it. It is a better tool of war for them and their allies (the enemies of the U.S.) because the U.S. military can’t turn it off. (Which of course they would only do in the most dire of crises).

Now I understand the EU’s point of view in this; they want to control their own destiny like everyone else. But it does lead you to see exactly how they think, and our point of view is equally as valid. The British and Japanese are our allies, thus couldn’t care less and trust the U.S. and GPS. The French especially, and Germans and other EU countries are believing their own anti-American hype/rhetoric, thus see us as the enemy, so are willing to spend billions of dollars to undermine our interests and empower our enemies. The EU motto is clearly, “Weaken the U.S. at any cost, and ignore the consequences or motives of those you empower, and blame it all on them”. When Foreign Cruise missiles and smart bombs are coming towards America or American troops they can claim, “We have no control, it is civilian! So sorry”, all while snickering in their Cafe’s.

So this action says a lot about both our current and future relationship with them than I think they realize (or are willing to admit to themselves). Thus I think the true name shouldn’t for the European GPS system shouldn’t be Galileo, but Machiavelli (after the double-dealing power monger). After all, when your neighbor says “trust me”, and starts building weapons and defenses directed towards your yard, and starts recruiting neighbors and proselytizing against you, I think you should trust the treacherous actions more than the soothing words. Sadly, I think this portends the future relations with the EU, and I’m sure they’ll blame the souring on us while ignore their own hands in everything (as usual).

Happy New Year. (Sorry that the EU started it on such a sour note). I really do see this as going to be a great year though. Iraq and the middle east have been trending much better (FoxNews did a great special on all the things going well there). I think more and more of our troops will be coming home based on real accomplishments (not political hype). China is becoming more free and capitalistic. World trade is getting better — and countries that trade and are free are less likely to war with each other. Our economy is going gang-busters, and if the Fed lays off the rate increases, things will be better still. Apple is releasing hot new products to make all the Macophiles and iPodders happy. So, I think the world is continuing its trend in becoming a better place.

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http://www.useu.be/Galileo/
http://www.integralgis.com/pdf/GALILEO.pdf
http://www.oso.chalmers.se/~geo/gg_comp.html