EU ready to switch off Galileo to aid US security

Date: 28/03/02

By Laurence Frost

THE EU will offer to 'switch off' its Galileo satellite navigation system during future American military operations, according to officials close to the project.

The European Commission is seeking to reassure Washington that Galileo's signals will not be open to misuse by terrorists and rogue states.

Senior EU officials will make the pledge when they meet a delegation from the US State Department for talks in Brussels on 2 May.

The US will be offered an agreement on a 'clear procedure' for temporarily jamming or shutting down Galileo's signals in regions where America's security interests are at stake, one EU official said.

'For example we could have agreement between US and EU member states that, in the event of a military situation, it will be disrupted,' said the official.

'This is standard military operational procedure - it's the same as for GSM [mobile phone] signals.'

The move comes after transport ministers on Tuesday (26 March) released €450 million in EU funds to launch the space project.

But, depending on their scope, any assurances given to the US risk undermining public and business confidence in what the Commission has always insisted is a civil system, free from military control.

Guarantees of uninterrupted service or 'signal integrity' are at the heart of the case made by Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio for the estimated €3.4 billion needed in public and private investment.

The Commission's own website promises 'a very high level of continuity required by modern business', distinguishing Galileo from America's Global Positioning System (GPS), whose signals 'have, on several occasions, become unavailable on a planned or unplanned basis'.

Service continuity is also essential to the safety of many of the planned applications that will make or break Galileo - including precision navigation for ships and aeroplanes in low-visibility conditions.

It is also expected to revolutionise activities including search and rescue operations, traffic congestion charging, oil prospecting, mountaineering and even crop spraying.

But de Palacio is being forced to walk a tightrope between Galileo's promised independence - vital to its commercial edge over GPS - and the need to win the acceptance of Europe's largest military ally.

The satellite's UN-approved frequencies are adjacent to those of GPS, making Washington's cooperation indispensable if technical conflicts between the systems are to be avoided.

In a letter to EU defence ministers last December, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz expressed concern that Galileo could interfere with military operations.

Security issues will be high on the agenda for the upcoming talks between US Galileo negotiator Ralph Braibanti and Heinz Hilbrecht, a director in the Commission's transport department.

Any decision made to withdraw Galileo's signals would be taken by a security board of member state representatives. Under the 'nuanced approach' being considered, the free signal, available to users without charge, would be the first to be jammed during a security crisis.

The coded commercial signal available only to business users - who pay for its improved accuracy and guaranteed continuity - would be withdrawn in situations of more extreme risk, leaving the heavily-encrypted 'governmental' signal available for the security services.

A NATO technical committee is assessing the military implications of Galileo after several alliance members raised concerns that its secret 'governmental' signal partially overlays the frequency used by GPS's military channel. 'These countries include Galileo supporters,' said a NATO source. If an enemy gained access to Galileo, this would make it impossible to jam the EU signal without also eliminating the US military signal.

De Palacio's spokesman Gilles Gantelet acknowledged US security concerns over the availability of Galileo signals, but insisted no decision had yet been taken by the Commission.

'These points will be discussed on 2 May,' said Gantelet. 'What the result of the meeting will be I don't know.'

He said any security arrangements made with the US would have to be approved 'at the appropriate levels', including by the Galileo Security Board to be set up in coming weeks.

De Palacio said Galileo would create 150,000 jobs and generate over €11 billion in annual revenues for EU companies from its launch in 2008. The project was hailed by Commission President Romano Prodi yesterday as 'a powerful reminder of our ability to promote the interests of Europe.'

The EU will offer to 'switch off' its Galileo satellite navigation system during future American military operations so that Galileo's signals will not be open to misuse by terrorists and rogue states.