GALILEO DEMARCHE - CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS U.S.

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000386 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TSPA CA SUBJECT: GALILEO DEMARCHE - CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON M-CODE OVERLAY REF: A) STATE 259165 B) Ottawa 00374 ¶1. This is a sensitive but unclassified cable and should be treated accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) In response to reftel A request for a high-level demarche on EU plans for Galileo Public Regulated Service (PRS) to overlay the radio frequencies used by the GPS M-code, Ambassador Cellucci wrote letters to the Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Transportation and Industry. Minister of Foreign Affairs Graham provided a coordinated response from the Government of Canada in his letter of January 27, 2003 to the Ambassador. The text of the letter, provided in paragraph 2 below, provides assurances that Canada will "continue to fully support the United States in urging the European Commission to agree to adopt different frequencies from the M-code." Ambassador Cellucci also discussed this issue with Minister of Transportation Collenette on January 31. Collenette echoed the supportive position expressed in Graham's letter. ¶3. Text of Minister Graham's letter. Dear Ambassador: Thank you for your letter of December 19, 2002, regarding the proposed European Galileo satellite navigation system and the implications for NATO members. Canada has always publicly maintained the position that Galileo and the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States should be compatible and interoperable for the benefit of all potential users. As noted in your letter, the European Commission (EC) has recommended that Galileo's Public Regulated Service" (or PRS),use the same frequencies that are used by the military service (M-code) of the GPS. During discussions at NATO, Canada has publicly stated its concern that, by sharing the same frequencies, the ability of the Alliance to jam enemy forces employing the Galileo system could be impeded. Canada's position is that Galileo should not use the same frequencies at the GPS M-code signal unless it can conclusively be proven that there will be no interference with the military use of the GPS. To that end, Canada has urged the European Commission to conduct a thorough testing of the system design to prove its claim that overlaying the Galileo PRS code on the GPS M-code would not in any way interfere with the military use of the GPS. The EC has yet to conclusively prove its claim. Until the EC can do so, Canada will continue to fully support the United States in urging the European Commission to agree to adopt different frequencies from the M-code. With the assistance of the European Union members in NATO, we will support efforts to generate a consensus to drop the M- code overlay option for the Galileo system. I look forward to discussing this issue with you in the coming months with a view to seeking a resolution in favour of an effective global civil navigation satellite system architecture. Sincerely