From: Ad 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/17/galileo_is_military/

A civie system with mil users vs a mil system with civie users....

"Galileo, the planned European sat-nav system, has been acknowledged
as having a military role by the European Commission.

EC Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said yesterday that Galileo will
be "civilian controlled...but there will be military users".

"Under original plans, Galileo was to be more than half funded by
private industry, but the EC's corporate partners have effectively declined
to proceed due to fears over revenue. The US defense department's Global
Positioning System (GPS) offers a good service for free, and private sector
bosses doubted that users would pay for Galileo services even if they were
somewhat enhanced.

As a result, the EC has been pushing for an extra  2bn of taxpayers' money
in order to build the system itself. Many observers, including El Reg, have
suggested that government funding for Galileo only makes sense in the
context of European military action and infrastructure security,
independent of the US.

This analysis has been lent support. The Financial Times reports that an EC
paper for transport ministers says that no Galileo "would mean that
the EU would be dependent on military/dual use foreign systems and
technologies".

The commission, the executive arm of the European Union, also pointed to
the Russian GLONASS constellation and Chinese plans for similar technology.
The message seems to be that major-power governments should have their own
satnav, just as they should have nuclear weapons.

"Moreover, Galileo is a pillar of the emerging European space policy
and signifies Europe's ambitions in space, technology and innovation,"
said the EC position paper. Significant revenues from military users were
reportedly foreseen."


Adam

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