Editor's Perspective

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MSMF 2009 Volume: 2 Issue: 6 (November/December)

As this final issue of MSMF on the 2009 editorial calendar goes to press, it’s easy to look back and select the September 17th Obama administration’s policy shift on European missile defense as this year’s most significant event that will shape our community’s future force structure and hardware requirements list.

While this April’s Government Accountability Office’s report on GPS did not grab the headlines as did the late summer announcement on the European site, this unrelated event continues to subtly send its own shock waves through space and missile systems’ programs.

There was plenty of good and bad news in the GAO report on GPS. On the plus side, the report brought to light recent improvements in the systems’ manufacturing processes. The GAO also presented an upbeat overview of the government/industry team’s GPS modernization plans. On the negative side, the report helped undermine confidence in U.S. GPS systems by dwelling on past problems. Indeed, an interesting dynamic has been present on the exhibition floors of this fall’s defense conferences— references to the future reliability of GPS. An innocuous statement—said with a wink—that a widget or system will work if GPS does, is representative of the burden on the Air Force and its industry partners to restore congressional and the public’s confidence in GPS.

Since the GAO report’s publication, Air Force leaders have used MSMF to update our community on the service/industry team’s efforts to provide precision navigation well into the future. MSMF will continue the dialogue about GPS in our 2010 editorial calendar.

I also look forward to your comments and feedback.

Marty Kauchak, Editor
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