If we can kill Nimrod, what about this

[s2art]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100...

Extract;

The wonderful Labour MP, Gwyneth Dunwoody, when chairing the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, described Galileo as “not one pig flying in orbit, this is a herd of pigs with gold trotters, platinum tails and diamond eyes”. Britain’s projected share of the cost has risen from £385 million to £2.95 billion. This at a time when our debt has swollen to a trillion pounds, and is rising by £7,000 a second.

[RobDickinson]

£22bn for a satalite system that will do the same as the one we have already? Nice.

OK we have to depend on the USA for it but still.

[hornetrider]

It'll put my B-I-L out of a job if it's axed

[Chuck328]

hornetrider said:

It'll put my B-I-L out of a job if it's axed

I hope your B-I-L keeps his job! I think it will help in my little world. However, if it did come to fruition, does that mean they will go all out to have every car tracked on our roads?

[Eric Mc]

RobDickinson said:

£22bn for a satalite system that will do the same as the one we have already? Nice.

OK we have to depend on the USA for it but still.

That's the whole point. "We" don't have one. "We" use the US DoD system - which they could pull the plug on if they wanted to.

[thinfourth2]

Eric Mc said:

RobDickinson said:

£22bn for a satalite system that will do the same as the one we have already? Nice.

OK we have to depend on the USA for it but still.

That's the whole point. "We" don't have one. "We" use the US DoD system - which they could pull the plug on if they wanted to.

And we switch all our GPS devices to the europian system by doing what.

Oh we can't

Ignore the things in spaces their cheap its the costs of thing in cars/phones/sat navs etc that are the real expense of GPS.

Bin the europian system its fecking useless

[grumbledoak]

Galileo is an utterly pointless vanity project for the EU. The US has already stated that it won't be doing anything to GPS even in war; too much already depends on it.

[V88Dicky]

Eric Mc said:

RobDickinson said:

£22bn for a satalite system that will do the same as the one we have already? Nice.

OK we have to depend on the USA for it but still.

That's the whole point. "We" don't have one. "We" use the US DoD system - which they could pull the plug on if they wanted to.

They <theoretically> could shut down most of the internet, and pull our Trident II D5 support also.

But they won't.

[Fittster]

grumbledoak said:

Galileo is an utterly pointless vanity project for the EU. The US has already stated that it won't be doing anything to GPS even in war; too much already depends on it.

And we can hold them to that promise if they change their mind?

[Zod]

Director of German satellite company suspended for criticisng Galileo

[renrut]

grumbledoak said:

Galileo is an utterly pointless vanity project for the EU. The US has already stated that it won't be doing anything to GPS even in war; too much already depends on it.

Would this explain why the interest in anti-satellite missiles or late? If its so important the US wouldn't dare turn it off even in war, surely crippling it would cause them massive problems?

[davepoth]

Europe want Galileo because the extra precision it offers (needlessly for personal use) allows new possibilities for revenue. It will supposedly be accurate enough to run train signalling, and real time tracking of cars for road charging.

[anonymous-user]

Killing off Nimrod was largely seen as a political move. Something for Cameron to use as an example of Labour waste. Which is not entirely true, but why let the truth get in the way of political point scoring??

[Eric Mc]

grumbledoak said:

Galileo is an utterly pointless vanity project for the EU. The US has already stated that it won't be doing anything to GPS even in war; too much already depends on it.

Yes - I believe everything politicians say too.

[theaxe]

davepoth said:

Europe want Galileo because the extra precision it offers (needlessly for personal use) allows new possibilities for revenue. It will supposedly be accurate enough to run train signalling, and real time tracking of cars for road charging.

This is what it's for.

[odyssey2200]

theaxe said:

davepoth said:

Europe want Galileo because the extra precision it offers (needlessly for personal use) allows new possibilities for revenue. It will supposedly be accurate enough to run train signalling, and real time tracking of cars for road charging.

This is what it's for.

IIRc there is an EU proposal that ALL new cars will have to have onboard telematics by 2015.

All the pieces start to fit together...

[rhinochopig]

I was told that there *might* be issues with US GPS in that there are two issues which could affect civilian use:

First, the US is behind programme on replacement - you need a min 24 and they don't have a lot of slack at the moment. I do find this unlikely though given how reliant their military is on GPS.

Second, the US are again considering whether to turn SA back on again.

[Ayahuasca]

We should definitely withdraw from this useless and expensive project.

We already have free use of GPS, so who needs a French system?

Yes the Americans can turn GPS off, but they can also turn off NATO, our nuclear deterrent, the JSF and a large proportion of our civilian airliners if they felt like it, which they don't.

Also, do not forget that the EU would be able to 'turn off' their system too if they wanted - do you think they would take much account of the UK's views if we disagreed?

[grumbledoak]

Fittster said:

And we can hold them to that promise if they change their mind?

If we are at war with America you'll have bigger problems than your SatNav not working!

[Flintstone]

thinfourth2 said:

Ignore the things in spaces their cheap its the costs of thing in cars/phones/sat navs etc that are the real expense of GPS.

Eh? You been at the furniture polish again?