An Automated Tool for Mission Planning in GPS-Denied Areas

Abstract : GPS is critical to many military and civilian systems. It is therefore incumbent upon operational planners to ensure GPS integrity to friendly military forces and civilians, provide protection from GPS-guided weapons, and conduct testing of advanced, anti-jam equipment for use in GPS-denied areas. In order to support these complementary planning functions, the Navy is developing a software toolbox to evaluate GPS performance in specific scenarios, to automatically optimize vehicle routes to avoid GPS jamming, and to optimize placement and configuration of self-protection jammers or jammers used in testing anti-jam GPS equipment. The toolbox includes multiple optimization algorithms, various propagation algorithms suited to different conditions, a flexible software architecture for controlling optimization, and an intuitive graphical user interface. A prototype version of the toolbox has been delivered to the Navy. This paper describes the design and features of the software and presents an example of optimal jammer placement for an equipment test scenario.