Letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

February 22, 2002

The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301                       

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

We write to urge your support for providing adequate resources to the Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR) program to ensure that the Department of Defense (DoD) develops cost-effective, near-term improvements in the warfighters’ ability to counter jamming of our Global Positioning System (GPS).

As you know, the U.S. military is increasingly reliant on access to the GPS.  However, there is a high probability that adversary forces will attempt to deny the U.S. and its allies access to the GPS service during military operations.  In fact, evidence suggests that potential enemy forces are acquiring the electronic jammers necessary to cause the denial of GPS access and in some cases have already deployed such devices to their forces.

While the Pentagon has provided additional funding for improvements to our GPS System, we are concerned that the acquisition timeline for these improvements is too long and that the NAVWAR program must continue to compete for the limited resources, which prevents dedication to supporting the full spectrum of NAVWAR activities.  This leaves U.S. forces ill-prepared to face an adversary that incorporates GPS jamming into its air defense systems.

As DoD and Congress work to develop the FY 2003 defense budget, your leadership is essential to ensure our military has a robust electronic warfare (EW) capability to counter the ever-advancing technology falling into the hands of our adversaries.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing from you on this important issue to our military.  If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Electronic Warfare Working Group

Congressman Joe Pitts, Founder and Chairman

420 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202 225-2411 phone    202 225-2013 fax