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| Our NAVIC is technological answer to Kargil | | | Nikhil Gupta | 5/1/2016 7:47:01 PM |
| The Kargil war was won by the time that saw many of our young army officers and jawans taking on the enemy head on . The technology was also instrumental in winning the war as shown by the laser guided precision bombs and heavy artillery . The data about the enemy troop strength and their movement was also required . In fact when Pakistani troops took positions in Kargil in 1999, one of the first things Indian military sought was GPS data for the region. This data could help Indian forces to pin point the attack . The Indian air power showed the capability to destroy the entrenched enemy positions without the help of the overall and systemic GPS data . Indian fighter Pilots flew real-time missions with hand-held GPS sets to pin point high-altitude targets of enemy soldiers occupying Indian positions. The Indian innovative use of airpower was one of the excellent features of the Kargil operations . The space-based navigation system maintained by the USA would have provided vital information but the USA denied it to India. A need for an indigenous satellite navigation system was felt earlier also but the Kargil experience made the nation realize its inevitability . This action of USA spurred India to develop its own, regional satellite navigation system for purposes of military autonomy. The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) was planned so that India has own GPS equivalent working across the country and extending up to 1,500km from its borders. The Satellite Navigation Works with a general idea that there is a constellation of few satellites orbiting the earth. Each satellite transmits a unique signal which a receiver uses to calculate the range between it and that satellite. Comparing those ranges to the known positions of those satellites allows the navigator to determine its position to within a few meters. To achieve that in three dimensions the GPS receiver must have a line-of-sight to at least few satellites. There is a lot more complicated stuff in the working of this system such as atomic clocks and time but this is the general idea. The US Air Force first put GPS into place way back in 1973 and kept it only for military until 1989. It wasn't until 2000 that the system became completely available for civilian use. The Soviet Union quickly saw it was at a massive disadvantage and began developing its own GPS clone in 1976. Its GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) constellation of 24 satellites was completed in 1995, but was almost immediately allowed to decay as Russia's ability to conduct giant programs in space diminished following the fall of communism. Restoring the network was one of Putin's first and most pressing priorities as President and it resumed global coverage in 2011 . Both GPS and GLONASS are essentially analogous from the consumer perspective. Both use a constellation of satellites which transmit their positions and which track time to tiny intervals . GPS was first and the USA was extremely successful at commercializing it. GPS receivers have been ubiquitous in consumer goods for over a decade now. Russia desires the same and wants that all satellite navigation-capable electronics sold should be GLONASS compatible. Most manufacturers of consumer electronics now find it easier to simply give all their products both compatibilities . The iPhone has worked with GLONASS now and most other smartphone manufacturers are including both GPS and GLONASS compatibility . GLONASS compatibility is also becoming common on handheld navigators and even in smart watches.
The big benefit to researchers , adventurers and consumers is that with these technologies they can pinpoint the locations easily . It has also become easier to achieve a location quickly , easily and also in more difficult locations and weathers . It also means satellite navigation will remain possible should one of these systems go down or access to it is denied by any of the country . The country that controls the navigation system has the ability to jam or confuse it or deny the data to any other country . It is a proud moment for India to have a regional navigation satellite system with just seven satellites . The seventh and final satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, the IRNSS 1G was launched into a sub geosynchronous transfer orbit with a perigree (nearest point to earth) of 284 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 20,657 km. The satellite was launched on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which took off from the Sriharikota launch pad few days back . With this launch, the IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is now complete. This will allow the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to focus on the process of designing front end chips which will receive the navigational signals sent out by the satellites. The system will be similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) operated by the United States with 24 satellites and the Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou systems of Russia, Europe and China respectively.
An area of 1,500 km from Indian boundaries will be covered under the navigational system . With an accuracy of better than 20 m being claimed by ISRO the navigation system will be offered as an open or Standard Positioning Service and a superior coded military Restricted Service. India has become one of the five countries with their own navigational systems. Now India is free of dependence on other countries for navigation. Our planes can land with ease and accuracy and we can plan disaster relief better and with our own technology . Our NAVIC or the navigation system will immensely help Indian forces during any future war and if enemy country of pakistan repeats Kargil then it is possible that with real time navigation data available to our forces , our army will crush pakistan easily and with pin point accuracy . The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System comprising seven satellites would be able to provide navigation system with much better accuracy and targeted position. It is designed to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services over India and region extending to 1,500 km around India. The system can be used for terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, integration with mobile phones, precise timing, mapping and geodetic data capture, terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers. It is an important landmark in our space program and India has joined the small group of nations having their own regional satellite navigation systems .
Geopolitical needs teach that some countries can deny the service in times of conflict just like USA denied us the GPS data during Kargil conflict . It is also a way of arm twisting and a country should protect itself against that . Many weapon systems like guided missiles and bombs also use such navigation systems. An indigenous system allows the development of such capabilities in a reliable manner . A system run by another country (like GPS) can be switched off in times of crisis leading to complete collapse of certain services . Global Positioning System used by almost all people in the world is controlled by USA . If they want they can switch off this GPS without any explanation . But now we Indians have NAVIC which will help us if USA switches off GPS or Russia switches of GLONASS . The requirement of such a navigation system is driven because access to foreign country controlled global navigation satellite system is not guaranteed during hostile situations as the Indian military experienced denial of services by America during the Kargil War.
Indian policy makers were jolted by this scant disregard to a defender against an aggressor i.e. pakistan which plotted to seize legitimate Indian territory through deceit and subterfuge. The concept of India's own navigation germinated as a result of this unsavory incident with the Americans. In future our NAVIC will help our military as well as all Indians who can use it for various needs . I hope that our NAVIC will be further developed and refined .
The contents of the article have no bearing on any person or any organization and the author is guided by the motto " THE ROYALE GUPTA WARRIORS NEVER FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES BUT FIGHT FOR A BIGGER CAUSE " . Vande Matram and Jai Hind. |
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