Cyberwarfare is the new arms race where opponents try to outdo each other using computer technology.

For example, some missiles are guided by the GPS I use daily and take for granted. Israel’s cybersecurity infrastructure has activated nationwide GPS jamming. The jamming seeks to disrupt drones and GPS-guided missiles aimed at the country.  

Nowhere is GPS jamming more concentrated than in the Middle East. HERE is a map of areas around the world where GPS is disrupted. Click and drag to rotate the globe.

In developing weapons in the cyberwarfare back and forth, the United States remains aware of dependency on easily disreputable technology like GPS. If GPS is disrupted, what technology can take its place? One approach is simple comparison of onboard maps to terrain features captured by onboard cameras in real time.

Other technology on the drawing board includes use of atomic clocks and inertial navigation. Intriguing is the monitoring the earth’s magnetic field for navigation. Can this approach be disrupted? Maj. David “Stitch” Jacobs says, “Because of the size of the earth and the magnetic field… it takes a whole lot to jam [such] a signal… [It would be] on the scale of a nuclear blast.” 

Much of the cutting edge technical work in the military is sponsored by DARPA, called the military’s agency of mad scientists by Paul Scharre. DARPA’s wild ideas are responsible for the genesis of GPS,  self-driving cars and the internet.

The arms race will never end. Today it is manifest in cyberwarfare and battles between computers.

For those interested, a great site reporting today’s use technology in the military news is Defense One.