Chaos would “at once” descend should the global positioning system (GPS) be subject to a blackout, according to industry experts, who warn the world has become over-reliant on the US-owned system.
Left with no GPS, planes would be unable to land, Quartz reports, and digital systems that rely on the timing signals from the navigation system would stutter.
Cellular networks would likely collapse, and stock markets would be negatively affected, says the UK government.
GPS has been subject to numerous jamming and interference incidents in recent years and, despite the improbability of a total outage, the system is not robust, says WIRED.
The US has done little to build resilience and has fallen far behind China and Russia, which have developed more modern satellite navigation systems.
Experts say a “layered” approach to GPS systems would make the network less vulnerable and call for better government coordination.
However, organizations also need to spend money on upgrading their systems to protect themselves.
