30 Years of GPS

Feb. 28, 2008

The first Global Positioning Satellite signal from space occurred on Feb. 22, 1978, writes Col. David Madden, GPS Wing Commander at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., in a Feb. 22 statement. Madden notes that the GPS Block 1 satellites, launched between 1978 and Oct. 9, 1985 “paved the way for an operational system that has revolutionized the way we go to war.”

Related Content

Austin Visits Romania Ahead of NATO Summit, Hints at Future Black Sea Deployments

Oct. 21, 2021
Walking the flight line occupied by Blackhawk attack helicopters and American troops on rotation at the “MK” air base in Romania, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III highlighted the important strategic value of one of NATO’s newest members Oct. 20 ahead of NATO defense ministerial meetings in Brussels Oct. 21-22.…

Climate Change Likely to Lead to Instability, Increased Risks For Pentagon, Report Says

Oct. 21, 2021
Nearly nine months after President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to incorporate the implications of climate change in its wargaming, analysis, and simulations, the Defense Department has released its Climate Risk Analysis report. The report, out Oct. 21, “provides a starting point for a shared understanding…

Air Force Asks Boeing for E-7A Wedgetail Data for E-3 Sentry Replacement

Oct. 21, 2021
The Air Force has taken the first step toward a rapid acquisition of Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail airborne warning and control aircraft to replace the aging E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, according to an Oct. 20 business opportunity announcement. The Wedgetail, which uses a fixed blade-like antenna…

Pentagon’s Push to Build Up Technology Talent ‘Insufficient,’ DIU Boss Says

Oct. 21, 2021
Speaking during a virtual panel organized by the Center for a New American Security, director of the Defense Innovation Unit Michael Brown acknowledged that the Defense Department has a number of programs to bring in people necessary to bolster its tech efforts, such as the Technology and National Security Fellowship…

In AI Experiment, UK and US Simulate Adjacent Operations

Oct. 20, 2021
Held an ocean apart but simulating adjacent military forces, a virtual demonstration Oct. 18 gave the U.K. and U.S. militaries cause to project optimism over someday jointly adopting artificial intelligence “that can learn in the field.” The test represented “just the first step” on the way to an “experimental trial…

Heritage Foundation Ranks Air Force and Space Force as ‘Weak’ in New Report

Oct. 20, 2021
The Heritage Foundation ranked both the Air Force and the Space Force as “weak” in its 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength released Oct. 20, citing issues ranging from low readiness and misaligned investment in fourth-generation platforms to insufficient space domain awareness and offensive space weapons to match peer capabilities.…

KC-46 Completes First F-16 Coronet After Interim Capability Release

Oct. 20, 2021
Just days after Air Mobility Command cleared the KC-46 to start refueling Air Force F-15s and F-16s, a tanker from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing completed the Pegasus’ first Tanker Airlift Control Center-tasked F-16 Coronet, flying from Naval Station Rota, Spain, across the Atlantic.

B-1s Operate From Diego Garcia for First Time in 15 Years

Oct. 20, 2021
B-1 bombers operated out of Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia for the first time in more than 15 years recently as part of Pacific Air Forces’ Bomber Task Force missions. The B-1B Lancers, along with around 200 Airmen from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., landed…

Right on Cue, North Korea Testing Ballistic Missiles, as Predicted by DIA

Oct. 19, 2021
No sooner had the Defense Intelligence Agency issued its North Korean Military Power report, in which it predicted Pyongyang would resume ballistic missile tests, than North Korea did exactly that, lofting a submarine-launched ballistic missile Oct. 19. The test, in which an SLBM launched from the port of Sinpo into…