I suspect we (the USA) could wreck a shitload of satellites if we put our mind to it. Probably more difficult to shoot one down (trying to hit something moving VERY fast), but it’s really a different problem than putting one into orbit. Many satellites have some basic maneuvering capabilities, but beyond that, I don’t think anyone’s put anything into orbit with any defensive measures.
If we can’t use satellites then we would use ground based transmitters. We already do that now with Commercial aircraft. It would be a software upload at most to add ground GPS to the mix. I believe my phone based aviation software can use cell towers as a reference.
The problem is antenna location on aircraft. GPS antennas on planes would be be on top and it might require relocation. We could replicate the system on land.
The reason we use satellites vs ground transmitters is worldwide coverage vs regional coverage. Commercially there is no coverage over the ocean for ground based transmitters. Militarily it doesn’t matter how far off your nuclear weapon is. If we’re attacked then the shit hits the fan and the accuracy of +/- 3 feet isn’t much of a problem. What you lose without satellites is the ability to drive a missile in through the front door like we saw in the Gulf war. And those were laser guided anyway so it means you have to be on location to pull it off.
No, I mean, like being given a map and a compass (and your particular declination for where your map is) and having to find your way to a campsite 10-12 miles away through the northern New Mexico mountains kind of navigation. Triangulation by landmarks, etc…
Assuming you have a decent map, it’s not terribly hard. I would assume that if Boy Scouts at Philmont (or most other high adventure bases) can hack it by the thousands every summer, then your average infantryman should be able to as well.
No ASAT weapon thus far tested can reach beyond low earth orbit – a few hundred miles up. The 24 active US GPS satellites (plus six orbital spares) are in orbits 12,000 mi high. Only 3-4 are required above the horizon to determine a precise 3D fix:
US military communication satellites (Milstar) and early warning satellites are in geosynchronous orbits 22,500 mi high, about 1/10th of the way to the moon. No solid-fueled rocket can reach that altitude, it takes a big liquid-fueled booster.
Military GPS uses different frequencies and is more jam-resistant than civilian GPS. However the theoretical vulnerability to jamming is known and the GPS constellation is being upgraded with new “Block III” versions which are much more jam-resistant: GPS Block III - Wikipedia
Besides the US GPS system, there is the newer European Galileo system which is already active. All 24 satellites and six orbital spares should be in place by next year. It is more accurate than the US GPS system (for civilian users) with about 1 meter capability. They are in 14,400 mile-high orbits: Is Galileo inside your phone?
There are also the Russian GLONASS and Chinese BeiDou systems:
It’s possible to make a multi-constellation receiver which picks up some combination of the above satellites. It seems likely that future critical navigation applications will use both GPS Block III and Galileo, so both systems would have to be disrupted to cause a general outage.
The scouts do this alone? Or in groups with a scout master?
6 million hits in Google for “lost boy scout” vs 180 million for “lost LT”. That’s science.
Depends. Back in the day, we just had a Scoutmaster hanging around in case we got seriously lost, although he didn’t know what he was doing much better than we did, truth be told. What we did on our Philmont trip was rotate whose job navigation was that particular day, so we all got to do it at least once during our trek. We all had maps and compasses, so we could sort of play at home, although the “official” map was in the map-case (a folder-thing with a clear plastic side that you could draw on with grease pencils), and that’s what we used to triangulate where we were, if we didn’t already know.
I mean, your average campout isn’t full-on backpacking, but there are lots of scouts (most?) that do that kind of thing at some point, and in general, the BSA is pretty big on having scouts learn stuff for themselves instead of having adults do it for them.