A bipartisan pair of senators is asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for more information on the agency’s efforts to protect Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies from foreign threats to their operation.
Noting the reliance of numerous critical infrastructure sectors on GPS tech, Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and James Lankford, R-Okla., expressed concern in a Dec. 18 letter addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that DHS isn’t doing enough to protect GPS systems.
“GPS technology has become an integral part of our nation’s critical infrastructure,” wrote the senators. “GPS disruptions could affect the delivery of critical community services provided by multiple government and commercial entities, and could lead to cascading detrimental economic, public safety, and security effects.”
The letter references a 2021 report commissioned by DHS that found foreign adversaries could “completely shut down U.S. ports” using GPS jamming systems.
Comparing the United States’ efforts to those of other nations – such as Russia and China – the senators said that while both adversarial countries have “retained and upgraded” World War II era technology known as Loran – land-based navigation technology utilizing long range radio signals – the U.S. seems to have “given up efforts to upgrade its own Loran systems.”
The senators also warned that the U.S. is falling behind in its positioning, navigational, and timing (PNT) capabilities, citing a July memo from the National Advisory Board on Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing which the senators said concluded that the “current capability gap between GPS and other global competitors could seriously threaten U.S. standing as the default provider” of GPS.
“In light of this emerging threat, we write to request information about the Department’s efforts to address GPS vulnerabilities and help enhance the resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure against potential outages and disruptions,” said the senators.
Lawmakers requested that DHS respond to a series of questions covering risk assessments, DHS resources, planning and preparedness efforts, and international considerations including the impact of foreign adversaries on GPS risk assessments and collaborative efforts the U.S. has with allied nations.
Sens. Hassan and Lankford, who are chair and ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, respectively, requested that DHS provide a response to the letter within 45 days.
