GPS Interference

[Malcolm]

 

Aviation sector sees no fast tech solution to GPS interference problem

 

 

By Joanna Plucinska

LONDON (Reuters) -Global regulators, aviation security specialists and manufacturers failed to reach an agreement on a quick technical fix to the problem of GPS spoofing near war zones at meeting on Thursday, instead calling for better training of pilots to deal with the issue, according to two sources briefed on the talks.

Airlines have been urging quick action after a series of incidents where navigation systems were disrupted to show a false location or wrong time, though aircraft flight controls remained intact.

Spoofing might involve one country's military sending false Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to an enemy plane or drone to hinder its ability to function, which has a collateral effect on nearby airliners.

GPS jamming and spoofing have grown worse in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Middle East, according to industry group OpsGroup.

GPS is a growing part of aviation infrastructure as it replaces traditional radio beams used to guide planes towards landing.

The first international meeting bringing together the sector was held on Thursday in Cologne, Germany, organized by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and international trade group the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

 

Related v

GPS interference "can pose significant challenges to aviation safety," and requires that airlines increase data-sharing on jamming and spoofing events, EASA and IATA said in a joint statement.

"We need coordinated collection and sharing of GNSS (global navigation satellite system) safety data; universal procedural GNSS incident guidance from aircraft manufacturers; a commitment from states to retain traditional navigation systems as backup in cases where GNSS are spoofed or jammed," IATA Director General Willie Walsh.

More pilot training could help find an overarching solution to the problem, which experts say is set to worsen with increased global conflict, but it will take longer to approve and standardize any technology.

The sector needs to keep some of the older technology in place as an alternative to worsening GPS challenges, officials said at the meeting, according to the sources.

While technical solutions are also an option, they can be expensive, complicated and not always effective depending on what kind of spoofing is used.

As GPS interference attacks become more sophisticated, technical solutions would have to be consistently updated, creating a game of cat-and-mouse, one of the sources said.

A long-term solution also discussed was developing a second layer of authentication that would help check whether a GPS location is being spoofed.

This technology has been developed under Europe's Galileo program, the sources said, but is not yet in broad use.

One of the sources said regulators indicated it was unlikely that any change would be made in the pace of certification for certain technologies, which can take a decade to approve in civil aviation.

The next meeting focused on the issue will be a conference on navigation systems held in Antalya, Turkey, in early February organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), they said.

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska in London and Valerie Insinna in WashingtonEditing by Matthew Lewis and Louise Heavens)

[Kip Powick]

GPS...??? .. we used  to follow railway tracks and white-caps

Back to the basics guys/gals 

[Malcolm]

23 minutes ago, Kip Powick said:

GPS...??? .. we used  to follow railway tracks and white-caps

Back to the basics guys/gals 

Don't forget the inflight navigator who took star sights through an astrodome.  Absolutely essential if flying over the artic to Europe.

[Seeker]

2 hours ago, Malcolm said:

 

Spoofing might involve one country's military sending false Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to an enemy plane or drone to hinder its ability to function, which has a collateral effect on nearby airliners.

GPS jamming and spoofing have grown worse in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Middle East, according to industry group OpsGroup.

GPS interference "can pose significant challenges to aviation safety," and requires that airlines increase data-sharing on jamming and spoofing events, EASA and IATA said in a joint statement.

 

On my last run through the middle-east we were spoofed and the GPS position was out by 130 NM.

[boestar]

I Follow Roads

 

[Rich Pulman]

9 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

GPS...??? .. we used  to follow railway tracks and white-caps

Back to the basics guys/gals 

LOL. I will confess to being able to read maps and even remember how to do an aural null approach, BUT…

The AUP I’m doing on my airplane includes three independent GPSs, including one that will allow me to do LPV approaches down to CAT I minimums. Plus additional portable GPSs in my iPhone and iPad; each using ForeFlight software for up-to-date maps, CFS, NOTAMs, weather, route briefings, traffic, etc. The basics are great (for those who know how to use them], but we’re well into the ‘90s now. Time to switch from analog to digital.

[mrlupin]

Nice panel Rich!

 

[Malcolm]

FAA Tells Pilots To Switch To Analog To Avoid ‘spoofing’

What is ‘spoofing’ you might think? In aviation, it’s no laughing matter. 

‘Spoofing’ is when false navigational data is sent to airplanes, sometimes rendering technologically valuable equipment useless. 

That’s why the Federal Aviation Administration is telling pilots to re-learn the analog system of conventional navigation aids. 

 

Examples of navigation data becoming corrupted are becoming more prevalent. The FAA is telling pilots to monitor their equipment and be ready to switch from digital to analog if need be. The infiltration of current navigational aids could cause a pilot to veer far off course, and could be used as a terrorist tool. 

It is not sophisticated enough to delineate between military jets and commercial airliners. 

“The Airbus Flight Data Monitoring has reported a substantial increase in (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) outages, with 49,605 incidents in 2022 compared to 10,843 in the previous year,” the European Business Aircraft Association reported in November last year. 

The disruptions could put commercial and civilian flights at risk. It could be even more difficult for air traffic controllers. 

The FAA is also telling pilots to be aware of changes in avoiding terrain. And it works both ways. Pilots could be tricked into thinking they are coming near an object in which they could crash, or they could believe that they are not close enough to do so. 

 

Or they could wander into airspace that they shouldn’t. 

 

The use of fuel consumption is also a concern. 

vThe European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the International Air Transport Association are aware of the issue and recently conducted a workshop about the matter. 

The French airline company Safran warned “Until a few years ago, a GNSS spoofing attack required expensive, high-end equipment in the $50,000- $500,000 range. Today, low-tech equipment and open source software can enable anyone to spoof for as little as $100.” 

[IFG]

GPS spoofing will clearly be a vulnerability. Will the airlines go back to INS? VOR's & NDB's have been disappearing at a good clip. Are there still AM radio stations? Do any aircraft even have ADF's installed anymore. 

Maybe back to compass & clock, boys & girls!

Cheers, IFG - 

[Malcolm]

Maybe back to compass & clock, boys & girls!

Cheers, IFG - 

looking back:

[Innuendo]

They never should've shut down the radio ranges 

[Kip Powick]

17 minutes ago, Innuendo said:

They never should've shut down the radio ranges 

Ahhhh ....A fellow who probably remembers how to do lost orientation on a radio range ....real instrument pilots..

[deicer]

9 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

Ahhhh ....A fellow who probably remembers how to do lost orientation on a radio range ....real instrument pilots..

Isn't this how you went cross country?

 

[Kip Powick]

9 hours ago, deicer said:

Isn't this how you went cross country?

 

That's gotta be fake....Where'd they get all those logs on barren rock and snow covered mountains ????

[Seeker]

7 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

That's gotta be fake....Where'd they get all those logs on barren rock and snow covered mountains ????

That's the part of Lord of the Rings that you think is fake?

  

 

[Seeker]

2 hours ago, deicer said:

Isn't this how you went cross country?

 

You're not far off:

 

https://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Government_Role/navigation/POL13.htm

[deicer]

4 hours ago, Seeker said:

That's the part of Lord of the Rings that you think is fake?

  

 

Wasn't this his first captain?

[Malcolm]

• Massive explosion on the sun causes blackouts near Australia and Asia - as NOAA shows a 45% chance of radio disruptions in coming days
•  
• A giant solar flare erupted from the sun on Monday that reached Earth today
• Reports showed that blackouts occurred near Australia and South Asia
• READ MORE: The sun erupted with its most powerful solar flare in 6 years

An explosion on the sun released a massive plume of energized particles soaring 900,000mph through space that triggered blackouts in Australia and South Asia.

 

Reports surfaced Tuesday morning that noted ham radio operators and mariners had been disrupted around the two targets.

The long-duration flare was released Monday at 8:30pm ET and the solar storm reached our planet today shortly after 10am ET.

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center shows there is a 45 percent chance of more communication disruptions in the coming days.

 

An explosion on the sun released a massive plume of energized particles soaring 900,000mph through space that triggered blackouts in Australia and South Asia© Provided by Daily Mail

Physicists noted that the explosion was an M-class flare, which can cause small (R1) to moderate (R2) radio blackouts on the daylight side of the Earth.

 

The alert is largely for frequencies used by aviation communication, government time stations, weather stations, amateur radio and citizens band services, among other uses.

Physicist Dr Tamitha Skov told DailyMail.com in January: 'Those who [are typically] impacted are people who rely on GPS/GNSS services, especially at high latitudes, as well as precision farmers and anyone using UAVs for reconnaissance, search and rescue, or aerial photography

 

Strong M-class flares, like what was observed Monday, can launch a coronal mass ejection (CEM), which are large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun.

The ejection contains billions of tons of corona material from the sun's surface.

CEMs can produce a geomagnetic storm that temporarily disrupts Earth's magnetosphere and orbiting satellites by a solar wind shock wave.

 

Reports surfaced on Tuesday morning that ham radio operators and mariners had been disrupted around the two targets© Provided by Daily Mail

 

Keith Strong, a solar physicist, shared on X that the CME may impact Earth, ‘but the region is a long way south on the sun so could pass under us'© Provided by Daily Mail

Keith Strong, a solar physicist, shared on X that the CME may impact Earth, ‘but the region is a long way south on the sun so could pass under us.’

Predictions from EarthSky showed that over the next 24 hours there is a 99 percent chance for C flares, a 60 percent chance for M flares, and a 25% chance for X flares.

 

C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences on Earth, while are major events that can trigger radio blackouts around the whole world and long-lasting radiation storms in the upper atmosphere.

The unstable sunspot was identified as AR3575, which delivered the M flare toward Earth.

However region AR3576 is also moving toward our planet and is so large, NASA's Mars rover spotted it last week.

 

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center shows there is a 45 percent chance of more communication disruptions in the coming days© Provided by Daily Mail

The sun's fury caused blackouts on Earth less than one month ago.

Data showed the incident occurred around 4:20pm ET in the waters off the coast of the western US and South America - but it lasted for a just few seconds.

The poles were also impacted by the powerful stream of energized particles, with the outage lasting for about seven hours.

 

The radio waves (called 'radio bursts') are what impact our reception to satellite signals like GPS and even HF radio communications,' Skov told DailyMail.com when the blackout happened on January 24.

'It is like the Sun is literally screaming at us during a solar flare.

'This 'scream' is much louder than our satellites can 'chirp' and so it drowns out the satellite signals temporarily.

'That being said, the sun doesn't always scream at the exact frequencies that affect GPS signals.'

[Kip Powick]

Well it is midnight here in Ontario so the sun will have the chance to cool down before we see it tomorrow morning...

                                                                                    

[AAS]

[Malcolm]

Russia jams GPS signals for aircraft over Baltic region - Politico

Story by Kateryna Shkarlat

 • 1h • 2 min read

 

Archive photo: Russia jams GPS signals for aircraft over the Baltic region (facebook com wizzair)© RBC-Ukraine (CA)

Aircraft flying over the Baltic region are experiencing cases of GPS signal jamming. Russia is considered the culprit of these issues, reports Politico.

"The blackout episodes — known as GPS jamming — have been occurring regularly since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022," the source writes.

 

Politico specifies that the interferences are concentrated in the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.

"Russia is regularly attacking the aircraft, passengers, and sovereign territory of NATO countries," said Dana Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation.

She called these incidents real threats and reminded how during the accidental jamming in 2019, a passenger plane narrowly missed crashing into a mountain.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is studying this issue, but regulators currently state that GPS issues do not pose a danger to flights.

GPS disruptions are on the rise

Cases of interference reported by pilots have steadily increased since January 2022. This was stated by the European Aviation Safety Organization, which receives reports from pilots through its voluntary incident reporting system, EVAIR.

 

Related video: Will Russia attack NATO if F-16s are sent to Ukraine? Here's what Putin has to say (WION)

 

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"During the first two months of 2024, EVAIR recorded high increases in GPS outages reports. In absolute figures we received 985 GPS outages compared with 1,371 for the whole of 2023," Eurocontrol reported.

They added that the number of incidents in the first two months of this year was almost seven times higher than in the first two months of 2023.

Example of Israel

Politico reports that last year, Israel began jamming and spoofing GPS signals at the border with Lebanon to protect its territory from Hezbollah missile attacks.

Recently, Israeli disruptions have caused problems for civilian aviation in Lebanon. It was reported that planes bound for Beirut were forced to turn back due to signal shutdown.

"While disruptions may be inconvenient, they do not pose a significant risk to safety. An aircraft can safely navigate the globe without GPS," said Stuart Fox, Director of Flight Safety and Technical Operations at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

 

This is not the first time when Russia has been accused of jamming GPS signals for aircraft

In January, the Institute for the Study of War reported massive disruptions in GPS systems in Poland and the Baltic region. At that time, it was not ruled out that this was a result of the operation of Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems in the region.

Later, Estonia accused Russia of being behind the increase in cases of satellite signal jamming used by airlines, smartphones, and weapon systems in Eastern Europe.

More recently, Russia jammed the satellite signal of the aircraft carrying UK Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps as it flew near Russian Kaliningrad.

[Malcolm]

and to add to the GPS problems

How airlines across the world are responding to Middle East tensions (msn.com)

[Malcolm]

Russia suspected of targeting thousands of British holiday flights in 'extremely dangerous' electronic attacks jamming systems including GPS

• 46,000 flights logged satellite navigation issues between August and March
• Jamming hotspots were in the Baltic, Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean

By NATASHA ANDERSON 

PUBLISHED: 21:12 EDT, 21 April 2024 | UPDATED: 04:55 EDT, 22 April 2024

Russia suspected of targeting thousands of British holiday flights in 'extremely dangerous' electronic attacks jamming systems including GPS | Daily Mail Online

 

Russia is suspected of launching 'extremely dangerous' electronic attacks against thousands of British holiday flights, aviation sources have claimed.

The planes appear to be suffering from GPS jamming and spoofing, which interferes with wireless communication systems and uses fake signals to trick pilots into believing the aircraft is in a different location than where they actually are.

The European Aviation Safety Agency in January warned that authorities had seen a 'sharp rise' in jamming and spoofing 'attacks', but did not say who was behind them.

 

But industry experts are now alleging that Putin's forces are behind the attacks with one insider telling The Sun that the 'information from the Russians is spurious'.

The suggestion echoes that of an aide who reportedly blamed Russia for the 'wildly irresponsible' attack that jammed an RAF plane as it flew through Poland while Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was on board.

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Russia is suspected of launching 'extremely dangerous' electronic attacks against thousands of British holiday flights, aviation sources have claimed

Aircraft logs revealed jamming hotspots in the Baltic region, Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, the newspaper reported.

This came after several reports sounded the alarm over jamming and spoofing events in the region.

The number of suspected Russian satnav attacks was more than 350 per week last month, researchers claim, a significant increase from the fewer than 50 attacks per week that were recorded last year. 

Between August and March, 46,000 flights reportedly logged satellite navigation (satnav) issues over the Baltic region.

Among those were 2,309 Ryanair flights, 1,368 Wizz Air flights, 82 British Airways flights and four EasyJet flights.

Seven planes operated by TUI - which reportedly does not fly in the Baltic - logged satnav issues. The airline said its affected planes were 'probably positioning flights without passengers'.

Virgin Atlantic, which also does not fly through the region, was the only major UK air carrier not affected by the electronic attacks.

In a statement to the Sun, EasyJet said it has procedures in place to 'mitigate against GPS issues'.

Similarly, Ryanair told the newspaper: 'If any location systems, such as GPS, are not functioning then the crew switch to alternate systems.'

In the eight months leading up to March, 46,000 planes reportedly logged satellite navigation issues over the Baltic region - including 2,309 Ryanair flights, researchers claim (stock photo)

Experts note that a 'significant percentage' of aircraft reported 'low navigation accuracy' appeared to 'correlate well with areas of known and suspected jamming'.

What are jamming attacks and how do they work?

Jamming attacks involve malicious interference on wireless communications systems, including WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

As the name suggests, the intention of such attacks is to 'jam' a network, preventing devices from communicating.

They generally use physical devices to overload a network with strong signals, disrupting usual operations.

There are three key types of jamming attacks:

1. Constant jamming

Constant jamming attacks work by emitting a steady interference signal on the same frequency band. On a Wi-Fi network, this can result in there being no available bandwidth for legitimate traffic, resulting in complete denial of service.

2. Deceptive jamming

Deceptive jamming is usually used to jam GPS devices. Attacks use false signals intended to emulate legitimate, expected signals on a network. As well as disrupting operations, these can be used further in an attempt to bypass encryption or to provide false information.

While details about the latest attacks against British holiday flights remain sparse, it's likely this is the type of jamming being used. 

3. Reactive jamming

Reactive jamming doesn't involve sending out a constant signal. Instead, an attacker waits until a legitimate signal is detected and then works to interrupt and replace it with an interference signal using the same frequency. This technique is sometimes used in man-in-the-middle attacks on Wi-Fi networks.

Source: SEON 

 

Dr Jack Watling, a war expert at the RUSI think tank, told The Sun that Russia has 'long used GPS jamming as a harassment tool' and that the country is 'projecting it across Nato borders'. 

'Wherever there is a large Russian garrison you are seeing GPS denial and there is one in Kaliningrad,' he said. 'They just have that stuff switched on because there are standing orders.'

Defence official have previously accused Moscow of jamming GPS signals over RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, where aircraft a regularly jammed.

Russian jamming equipment is believed to be stationed in nearby Syria.

In March, Russia was accused of Jamming the satellite signal of RAF aircraft carrying Grant Shapps back from Poland.

While defence sources said at the time there was no danger to the Defence Secretary, they called it a 'wildly irresponsible' act of electronic warfare.

The GPS signal was interfered with for about 30 minutes as the Dassault 'Falcon' 900LX flew close to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad - which sits between Lithuania and Poland and is Russia's most western territory in Europe.

A top secret Russian electronic weapon allegedly based in Kaliningrad has been suspected of jamming aircraft for months.

Maps plotting where aircraft have experiences GPS jamming show that the exclave appears to be at the centre of many of the incidents.

GPS jamming technology can be operated by other aircraft, including drones. However, it is usually carried out by ground vehicles.

The practice can compromise an aircraft's navigation and communication systems that are vital for pilots, posing serious safety risks to people onboard. 

Despite the suspected Russian satnav attacks, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) still insists that flying is safe, noting that there are several 'protocols in place to protect navigation systems on commercial aircraft'.

Glenn Bradley, Head of Flight Operations and the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: 'Aviation is one of the safest forms of air travel, and there are several safety protocols in place to protect navigation systems on commercial aircraft.

'GPS jamming does not directly impact the navigation of an aircraft and, while it is a known issue, this does not mean an aircraft has been jammed deliberately.

Industry experts are now alleging that Putin's forces are behind the jamming and spoofing attacks. It is believed that 1,368 Wizz Air flights were impacted by satnav issues between August and March (stock photo)

'While operators have mitigations in place to assure continued safe operations, we work closely with other aviation regulators, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers to curb and mitigate any risks posed by jamming, and continuously monitor incidents worldwide.'

A spokesperson for easyJet said: 'There are multiple navigation systems onboard commercial aircraft as well as procedures in place which mitigate against issues with GPS that can occur for various reasons.' 

Ryanair's spokesperson added: 'In recent years there has been a rise in intermittent GPS interference which has affected all airlines. Ryanair aircraft have multiple systems to identify aircraft location, including GPS. 

'If any of the location systems, such as GPS, are not functioning then the crew, as part of standard operating procedures, switch to one of the alternate systems.' 

MailOnline has approached WizzAir, TUI, Virgin Atlantic and BA for comment. 

Reports of the electronic attacks came as Ukraine was given a significant boost in its war effort against Russia in the form of the US House of Representatives approving a $61billion military aid package.

The legislation had stalled in US congress for months, leaving Ukrainian troops stretched throughout the winter in their continuing fight.

The funds should now allow Ukraine to switch from desperately holding ground to trying to reclaim the territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the support of the US, Britain and France for Ukraine was stoking serious strategic risks that had raised the risk of a direct confrontation between the world's biggest nuclear powers.

Lavrov said the United States and NATO were obsessed with the idea of inflicting 'strategic defeat' on Russia and there were risks in such confrontation that could lead to an increased level of nuclear danger.

'The Westerners are teetering dangerously on the brink of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,' he said.

The United States and its allies say they are helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression and that it is Russia that is aggravating East-West tensions, including by issuing repeated warnings about the danger of a nuclear conflict.

Lavrov said: 'Of particular concern is the fact that it is the 'troika' of Western nuclear states that are among the key sponsors of the criminal Kyiv regime, the main initiators of various provocative steps. We see serious strategic risks in this, leading to an increase in the level of nuclear danger.'