A new and serious threat to aircraft safety is emerging: increasingly, pilots are reporting interference with GPS systems that not only disrupt backup systems but also compromise primary navigation. This growing vulnerability is raising concerns across the aviation industry.
According to aviation experts and regulators, more than 1,000 planes per day are impacted by spoofing and jamming of Global Positioning System signals. This problem is expanding outside areas of active conflict, indicating that aircraft are experiencing GPS attacks beyond the expected zones. These GPS attacks seem to have been carried out by a number of players, rather than just one organisation or government, which further complicates matters.
While GPS jamming and spoofing are not novel concepts, the particular attack vector used in these recent assaults was “unthinkable” in the past. As a result, a “fundamental flaw in avionics design” is now being unveiled.
Forms of GPS Attacks: GPS Jamming and Spoofing
There are two main types of attacks that can target GPS and other GNSS systems. GPS spoofing describes the deliberate sending of false signals with the intent of changing the receiver’s apparent position. Because of this manipulation, the receiver will mistakenly think it is somewhere other than where it really is. However, GPS jamming is different from GPS spoofing in that it disrupts GPS signals rather than faking them. Jamming prevents the receiver from detecting its position.
Jamming GPS signals is a typical tactic to prevent missile or drone attacks, and it’s especially frequent in conflict zones and other critical military installations. Pilots know the regional hotspots where such incidents often occur and can depend on additional onboard navigation aids as a backup.
The problem with spoofing is that the sent fake signals fool an airplane’s electronics into believing it’s some place it’s not, leading to inaccurate location calculations and faulty guiding. It renders the aircraft’s navigation system useless by destroying the inertial reference system (IRS), which relies on gyroscopes, accelerometers, and other similar devices to enable navigation.
According to experts, spoofing poses a greater threat than jamming, as pilots might not immediately recognise the situation. Basically, civil flights are experiencing GPS troubles that might compromise flight safety.
The Dangerous Rise of GPS Attacks
Flights are experiencing GPS attacks at an alarming rate with the number of airplanes that have experienced the problem rising to the thousands. From August 2023 to March 2024, reports and data from GPSJam, a monitoring service, indicated that 46,000 aeroplanes in the Baltic area displayed possible indicators of jamming.
There is a lot more going on than the jamming in the Baltic area. Several GNSS systems, including those in Europe, China, and Russia, have been the target of increased assaults in recent years. Attackers can either jam signals, rendering them inoperable, or spoof signals, creating the illusion that planes are at different places on maps. War zones in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as the Baltics, have also seen an increase in GPS disturbances, particularly signal blocking, which is being used to thwart aerial strikes.
Data from April 2024 showed that over 15,000 flights had their locations spoofed to Beirut Airport. Another 11,000 were misdirected to show up at Cairo Airport, while an additional 2,000 displayed fictitious addresses in Yaroslavl, Russia.
And it’s not only war zones where GPS assaults have occurred. It has been reported that drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike have disrupted signals at the adjacent Newark Liberty International Airport using illegal GPS jammers in an effort to prevent their employers from monitoring their locations.
A runway at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport was closed in 2022 and flights were significantly delayed due to GPS interference. The FAA’s best attempts to pinpoint the origin of the interference were fruitless. There was no indication that the disturbance was deliberate, according to an official from the agency.
Navigating the New Normal in Aviation
An aviation safety group consisting of pilots, dispatchers, and other airline employees (OpsGroup) has compiled anonymised information indicating that navigational problems have occurred in several sectors as a result of various GPS attacks. The report highlights that flights are experiencing GPS issues, although no planes have been put at risk.
In the past, pilots have been forced to land in airports they had no intention of using, and just this year, one airline briefly grounded all flights at an airport in Estonia that lacked ground-based navigation as a backup for global navigation satellite systems.
The worldwide community of manufacturers, carriers, and regulators is pooling its GPS knowledge to find solutions that will guarantee safety. Aerospace giants, Airbus and Boeing, are collaborating with airlines to create protocols to aid pilots in the event of GPS interference while in flight.
Conclusion
The increasing frequency of jamming and spoofing incidents is causing concern that critical service interruptions may soon become the norm. This highlights the need for expert airport operations and technology assistance to combat these threats. At Airport Gurus, we provide comprehensive airport technology solutions and consulting services to ensure the integrity and security of airport operations. Our Airport Operations Expertise Consulting is designed to help airports navigate the complexities of modern security challenges. For more information on how we can assist you, contact Airport Gurus today.