Missiles and GPS

[Jordonposey]

Did you know that GPS can not be used to guide an ICBM? GPS units are programmed to automatically turn off if the unit is moving faster than 1,200 miles per hour and above 60,000 feet. This limitation was agreed on by the USA and USSR during the Cold War to prevent military use of civilian GPS units. Most ICBMs use different tracking methods, such as pre-programmed coordinates or radio guidance.

 

[Gasoline]

Nice informations ..
I know it for the first time .

Could you please provide us with any extra sources for the previous informations ?

 

[UAE]

Space shuttles don't use GPS either.

Here is some interesting info

QUESTION:

Does the space shuttle navigate on GPS or does it navigate by the stars?

Actually there are two parts to this issue: "State Vector" and "Attitude" (or trajectory and orientation). The state vector contains information on where the Orbiter is and how fast it is moving at a given instant in time. This navigation information is supplied by the onboard Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). The IMUs also provide Orbiter attitude information (i.e., nose forward payload bay to earth, tail forward payload bay to space etc.). The IMUs are built with mechanical gyroscopes that drift due to friction. To compensate for this drift the IMUs are corrected by ground uplink of tracking data. This corrects the state vector information. To correct the attitude information, the Shuttle takes star sightings every so often to keep the error in the attitude bellow .25 degrees. We have used GPS in tests but only as stand-alone systems. We have never used the information from GPS to actually compensate the IMU's or to assist with Shuttle navigation. The Space Station, on the other hand, will be using GPS for all its attitude and state vector data; there will be no IMUs on board.

 

[JulianWilliams]

How likely is it that any of that treaty's signatories have actually kept their end of the deal though? Also, with the the advances in technology we've made this past decade I'm pretty sure ICBMs could be relied to hit a city sized target without GPS as well. I wonder if they could hit something like a moving ship though.