Joint DOD/DOT Task Force

          The Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation will 
     conduct a joint review of how to get maximum use of DOD's Global 
     Positioning System (GPS) in satisfying both military and civilian needs.  
     The review was announced today by Secretary of Transportation, 
     Federico Pena and Defense Department officials. 
          Developed by DOD, GPS is a space-based positioning and navigation 
     system that uses a network of Navstar satellites.  It provides very 
     precise three-dimensional position and velocity information, as well as 
     time.
          While GPS is designed primarily to meet military requirements, 
     the U.S. Government wants to ensure the maximum civil use of GPS 
     consistent with national security needs.  These civil uses are expected 
     to grow and generate benefits such as increased transportation safety 
     and efficiency and economic growth.
         Secretary Pena said, "Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and I have 
     agreed that we should explore the civilian uses of and participation in 
     GPS.  We see it as a way to apply military technology to civilian use 
     and to demonstrate U.S. Leadership in this field.  The impact of civil 
     uses can give a major boost to our economy".
         The two departments said a joint DOD/DOT task force will examine the  
     implications for civilian use of the positioning system.  The group will 
     make recommendations on how the system can be managed most effectively 
     for both military and civil purposes.
         The task force will be jointly chaired by Joseph F. Canny, deputy 
     assistant secretary of transportation for policy and international 
     affairs, and Richard G. Howe, DOD's director for theater and tactical 
     C3 (command, control, and communications).  It will operate under the 
     auspices of the DOT Navigation Council and the DOD Positioning/Navigation 
     Executive Committee.  The group is expected to complete its work by the 
     end of 1993 and make a report to the two secretaries.