Soldiers Face Solar Snags
April 3, 2003 
Storms in Space Wreak Havoc on High-Tech Troops in Iraq

Solar flares and disturbances in the Earth's upper
atmosphere can interfere with the space-based 
satellite communications and signals that coalition
forces rely on to help fight the war in Iraq.
(Digital Vision) 		 On today's digital battlefield, where AA batteries are almost as critical as bullets, researchers are looking for ways to forecast "weather" conditions hundreds of miles up where satellites orbit. 

Over the past decade, scientists have focused much of their effort on forecasting the effects of large outbursts from the sun, which can fry satellite circuits and trigger surges in earthbound utility transmission lines.

Now, military and civilian researchers are paying increased attention to turbulence in Earth's ionosphere, which can weaken navigation, intelligence, and other signals until they vanish under useless noise. While solar storms can aggravate these effects, they can appear almost daily with or without a major solar eruption.
 
In Iraq, "all of our operations are very finely tuned" to minimize civilian casualties, notes U.S. Air Force Capt. Kelly Doser, currently working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Because today's weapons that rely on navigation satellites for guidance, "any little thing that creeps in could have a very heavy impact on how the mission is done."

GPS: Key to Modern Warfare
By many accounts, the U.S.-led conflict is more reliant on digital information than any in history. Encrypted voice communications, digital images of bomb and missile damage from remotely piloted aircraft and precision munitions, as well as search-and-rescue operations, all depend on satellites. Since the Gulf War in 1991, the military's demand for satellite services has grown tenfold, prompting the Pentagon to contract with commercial-satellite operators for the capacity it needs.

Meanwhile, the military's global-positioning satellite (GPS) network has become its backbone for navigation and the key technology behind a new generation of precision-guided weapons.

ABC News