wrote in message
ups.com...
There is a new system in the works by the europeans, Galileo. It is
supposed to be independent of military control so you won't see threats
of system shutdown. I'm sure the pentagon is working out how to jam it,
etc.

http://www.esa.int/export/esaNA/GGGM...C_index_0.html
http://www.eubusiness.com/press/EUPress.2003-12-22.1818


There's been noises in the past that the Chinese might want to be part of
that project, and also that the birds might carry hardware for encrypted
communication/datalink as well. That's the part that really got the DoD's
attention. A large part of our military advantage these days lies in the
incredible speed at which we can move information around securely from
bottom to top and back down again. It's safe to assume that strategic rivals
like China would get around to doing this on their own sooner or later, but
cooperating with the Europeans to do so would make a rather interesting
geopplitical statement.

-cwk.