Re: Fun with Glonass
GPS started working in 1995. The program was launched by Reagon after 1983. Which is 12 years of non-secret development of a civilian system for civilian purposes. The period 65-85 saw a complete revolution in electronics and satellite technology: "GPS" was not based on obsolete military technology, and the technology it was based on was not secret.
In the USA, the "military budget" got used to develop lots of civilian technology. It was used as a method of trade protection ("Free trade! (except for military contracts)") and as a method of pork barreling ("No government intervention in the market! (except for military contracts)").
The military does, of course, have an interest in navigation, just like the rest of us. Their proposals for navigation systems would eventually have seen civilian use, if the civilian system based on new technology hadn't been developed and funded.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
