The United States must prioritize the modernization of its Global Positioning System infrastructure through incremental upgrades to ensure national security and economic stability against increasing foreign electronic warfare threats.

Key Points

• The Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) is replacing the troubled Operational Control Segment to provide a more resilient, cyber-secure ground system with 99.9% availability.
• M-Code encryption and Regional Military Protection (RMP) are being deployed on GPS III and GPS IIIF satellites to counter enemy jamming and signal spoofing.
• Current military requirements necessitate a minimum of 24 modernized satellites in orbit to maintain full global positioning, navigation, and timing effectiveness.
• Experts urge Congress and the Department of Defense to protect GPS funding from budget reallocations to prevent critical capability gaps in national infrastructure.

Why it Matters

GPS serves as the foundational backbone for global financial networks, commercial aviation, and precision-guided military operations. Failing to modernize this infrastructure leaves the United States vulnerable to sophisticated electronic attacks from adversaries like Russia and China that could cripple essential societal functions.