[Text Source: Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLONASS ]
GLONASS (Russian: ГЛОНАСС;[1] IPA: [ɡlɐˈnas]), acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation
... Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces. It both complements and provides an alternative to the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), the Chinese Compass navigation system and the planned Galileo positioning system of the European Union.