The Global Positioning System (GPS), the linchpin of the U.S. military's all-weather, precision-bombing capability, is functioning despite possible jamming attempts by the Iraqi military, a Pentagon official said March 24.

Efforts to jam the satellite-based navigation system's signal, widely acknowledged as vulnerable, has not affected the U.S. air campaign, Maj. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the Army's vice director for operations, said in a Pentagon news briefing.

Earlier on March 24, White House officials accused Russian companies of supplying GPS jamming equipment to the Iraqi military, along with air defense and command and control technologies. U.S. government reports have been critical of the navigation system's ability to defend against jamming threats, and such concerns have been widely reported in the buildup to the war.

However, Pentagon officials consistently have brushed off concerns about the Iraqi military's ability to jam the GPS signal, the primary navigational aid for much of the U.S. military's arsenal, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition and the Tactical Tomahawk.