Thread

UK military jamming other nations' satellites to defend itself, BBC told

171 points · 213 comments · thm

gorgoiler · 1790191708 · focus · HN ↗
Presumably when World War 3 kicks off the very first thing each adversary will do is knock out their opponents satellites? These are like flying lightbulbs that shine down usefulness from above, so step one is to cut the lights.
Presumably-squared there is some kind of military backup to survive once the lights (GPS) go dark? Whatever that technology is, why hasn’t it proliferated into civilian life so that we all benefit from a resilient, non-GPS backup?
Perhaps the answer is that every tank has a 10lb inertial navigation gyro or some other thingy in it as a backup, and the platoon around it uses the tank as a moving trig point? In that case I can see it being infeasible to deploy that for civilians.
Perhaps-squared it’s just economics — GPS is cool and cheap now, so why burn profit margin on developing an alternative?
1. vrganj · 1790192718 · focus · HN ↗
  That and cut undersea cables. Russia has been messing around with them for a while now.
  1. chinathrow · 1790194303 · focus · HN ↗
    They are actively training for shit, it sure looks like. Same with other sabotage acts all over Europe in the last couple of years.
    huurtehoog · 1790194625 · focus · HN ↗
    Doesn't make any sense to have merchants dragging anchor in active war. These actions are meeting their goals, not serving as preparation.
    dchest · 1790194969 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-allies-foil-russian-subsea-cable-sabotage-plot-2026-09-10/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-allies-foil-russia...
    huurtehoog · 1790195140 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah I know I'm talking about it being training for war time anchor dragging.
    It's entirely clear that they cut cables and intend to cut more. It's not training, it's current aggression.
    chinathrow · 1790248152 · focus · HN ↗
    > It's not training, it's current aggression.
    Or both.
    mschuster91 · 1790196042 · focus · HN ↗
    Plausible deniability, it's what Russia has done long before the little freen men invaded Ukraine in 2014.
    FlowingRiver · 1790213308 · focus · HN ↗
    Its like directly addressing a compulsive liar. They know, that we know what they are doing but they will never admit it to us.

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