Air Force waves off warnings about GPS accuracy

A government report says the accuracy of GPS signals could deteriorate in the next few years because of delays in satellite launches, but the Air Force says it has plenty of ways of keeping up the navigation system increasingly relied on by drivers and cell phone users.

The Government Accountability Office reported last month that there is a risk that launches of new satellites will not keep pace with the wear and tear on the Global Positioning System.

That could mean that the accuracy and reliability of hundreds of millions of civilian and military GPS devices _ including everything from "buddy finder" cell phone applications to guided bombs _ …