RE: GPS and security

["Pat Farrell" <pfarrell@netcom.com>]

This is still off list, so consider pressing D now...

Phil, Thanks for the corrections

In message Tue, 28 Dec 1993 15:03:49 -0800,
  karn@qualcomm.com (Phil Karn)  writes:

>
>>[general erroneous drivel elided]
>>   Such as the surveying marks at the US Naval Acadamy, or
>>"ground zero" in the Pentagon.
>
> False.
> [general good stuff by Phil elided]

Last time I looked, the Pentagon was more than 100 meters in diameter.
One of Phil's later posts talks about SA being in a 100 meter range.

Obviously the Coast Guard and FAA want pretty good accuracy.

Whatever the actual numbers on the error terms are, either a moderate high
explosive, or tiny nuke, guided to within 100 meters of the Ground Zero Cafe
will probably take out all of the above ground portions of the Pentagon.
Look at what a single smart bomb (a fairly small one at that) did in the
Pentagon's favorite Gulf War video.

Similarly, just off the Naval Acadamy's grounds is a huge array of naval
communincations gear. It wouldn't take much to put atserious hurt in the
Navy's C-cubed net.

And you could easily use GPS to get close, and then image recognition for
final targeting.


Seems to me that the important concept here is that this is yet another
technology that the government can't control once its out of the bottle.
The scare tactics, and worrisome quotes about "terrorists and drug dealers"
will cause confusion among the masses, but I can't see them having any long
term effect.

Pat

Pat Farrell      Grad Student                 pfarrell@netcom.com
Department of Computer Science    George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
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