A SYNERGISTIC APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GPS EQUIPMENT FOR RANGE APPLICATIONS

Abstract

The office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering recognized the potential advantages of a range tracking system based on the Global Positioning System (GPS). A tri-service committee was formed in the summer of 1981 under the chairmanship of the Western Space and Missile Center (WSMC). After a 1-1/2 year study with contractor assistance, the committee reported its findings. It was unanimously agreed that the application of GPS to range tracking offered both cost and technical advantages over existing range tracking techniques. As a result of the study, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense established a Range Applications Joint Program Office (RAJPO). This RAJPO is managed by the Air Force at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and has deputy program managers from the Army and Navy. The purpose of the RAJPO is to develop a family of GPS components required by the range tracking community. It is anticipated that this family of GPS user equipment will satisfy the unique requirements of the ranges for time, space, and position information (TSPI). The RAJPO is in an enviably unique position to develop this much needed family of GPS user equipment for range applications. They will be able to take advantage of the synergism derived from previous and ongoing DoD GPS development programs. Rather than sponsoring a parallel development program, the RAJPO can take advantage of the results of the Air Force, Navy, and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) programs already underway or completed. This approach will ensure that the RAJPO will offer significant development cost benefits to the U.S. Government. The previous DoD GPS development programs that could offer cost benefits to RAJPO are the Phases I and II development programs performed by the U.S. Air Force Space Division’s GPS Joint Program Office (JPO); the TRIDENT Program’s precision tracking system developed by the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Program Office (SSPO); and the microminiature GPS receiver development sponsored by DARPA. Each of these programs has unique technology to offer to the RAJPO.