Electronic Weapons: April 3, 2003

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In the last week, American troops checked the satellite phones used by all journalists with coalition forces and seized any Thuraya brand phones. American electronic warfare specialists had discovered that this type of satellite phone had built in GPS, to make it easier for the phone to pick up signals from the nearest satellite. But to do this, the phone would transmit the location of the phone. This signal could be picked up by anyone with the right equipment, and thus reveal the location of the user. The journalists who lost their phones were provided with access to military satellite phones (all Iridium models that do not broadcast GPS locations) until new phones could be brought in for the journalists. 

 

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