Electronic Weapons: Destructive GPS Spoofing (Comng soon to a country Near You)

[Valin]

Strategy Page

April 3, 2024: Commercial aircraft flying in the Middle East and northern Europe have been victims of a growing number of GPS spoofing incidents that disrupt GNSS, or Global Navigation Satellite Systems. When this happens the onboard navigation systems become unreliable and pose an increasing risk to air travel. Fortunately, commercial airline pilots are trained and equipped to deal with a large number of emergency situations using other options like PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) services across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. There are also IRS (Inertia Reference Systems) that functions even when there is a lot of GPS jamming. Pilots can also rely on older systems like the ground based radio navigation system VOR/DME. These systems are available to pilots but are only useful in an emergency if pilots have some experience in using VOR/DME.

There is also a need for systems to warn pilots that GPS jamming or spoofing is present.

In late August 2023, pilots operating in the Middle East reported instances of their onboard navigation systems being overtaken by fake GPS signals. This corrupted navigation systems and indicated to pilots that the aircraft was hundreds of kilometers from where they were supposed to be. This often led to a complete loss of navigational capability, which sometimes forced pilots to rely on verbal directions from air traffic controllers and following recognizable indicators in the ground like rivers or major highway systems. All types of commercial aircraft were victims of these navigational problems, especially GPS spoofing.

The first reported incidents of the spoofing were in Iraqi airspace close to the Iranian border that is regularly used by flights traveling between Europe and Persian Gulf states. The pilot of a business jet traveling to Dubai reported that the plane almost flew into Iranian airspace, without authorization, due to the spoofing of the navigation system. Jamming GPS signals is common in war zones and near sensitive military sites. The jamming is sometimes an effort to deflect UAV or missile strikes. Pilots are warned of regional instances of frequent spoofing and switch to more reliable navigation aids.

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