GPS World: Air Force Reorganization May Drastically Affect GPS Program

Air Force Reorganization May Drastically Affect GPS Program

http://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/gps-modernization/news/air-force-reorganization-may-drastically-affect-gps-program-10413

The U.S. Department of Defense has totally revamped the USAF portion of
National Security Space. A communiqué on this subject has appeared,
signed by the Under Secretary for the Air Force, although the changes it
puts in place are of an order of importance that certainly indicates
decisions taken at a higher level, most likely by Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates.

Someone in the Administration has decided Air Force Space no longer
needs to be "unique," especially as acquisition and requirements are
concerned. Air Force Space acquisitions will now be treated just as any
other major acquisition program, and will run through the normal
channels of SAF/AQ, except for the fact that there will be a new entity
in the mix, the "Air Force Space Board."

The changes are far reaching. The SECAF (Secretary of the Air Force)
began implementation
today, August 30, and it means renewed importance for the role of the
Under Secretary of the Air Force. Almost everything will change and yet
many of the primary players remain the same; they will now coordinate
with new organizations and through different reporting chains.

These changes could have momentous effects on the GPS program as a major
ACAT 1 activity.

Although emphatically not included in this reorganization memo, one
buzz-slogan making the rounds of Washington D.C. Hallways and offices
reportedly goes, “Let’s launch fewer GPS satellites and depend more on
GLONASS.”

Not known is whether the floaters of this policy are aware that GLONASS
accuracy is generally three times worse than GPS and that the lifetime
of that system’s satellites has only recently reached six years, and has
been as short as six months.

Next week’s Defense PNT e-mail newsletter column by editor Don Jewell
will address exactly what these changes mean, especially to the GPS
program as they occur.