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What’s New: The final report from OPSGROUP’s GPS Spoofing Work Group. A tech guide and a crew guide were released earlier. It is an excellent 128 page, easy to browse or read document.
Why It’s Important:
- It reflects the unvarnished views of flight crews and others who make the air traffic control system work. Not something filtered by a government agency, airline, or equipment manufacturer. For example, in a poll of 2,000 flight crew, 70% said their concerns about spoofing’s impact on flight safety were very high or extreme.
- 8 overall safety concerns and 33 specific concerns are listed.
- The recent 500% increase in spoofing took place mostly over the summer. Winter will increase risk significantly.
- The report is a tremendous educational and reference document.
What Else to Know:
- 950 people participated in developing the report. They represented a wide swath of aviation and navigation expertise from industry, authorities, and academia.
- From the email forwarding us the report:
- “The future of GPS use in aviation is unclear. The Workgroup assessed that the vulnerabilities in public-use GPS that are now becoming evident (although known to experts for a decade or more), mean that the high involvement of GPS in aircraft systems is a major issue. Further, the over-reliance on GPS for primary navigation places great importance on preserving a sufficient network of conventional ground-based navaids. This aspect of the issue requires deeper study and conversation.”
- “Complementing GNSS for Aviation” will be discussed at CGSIC on Sept 17 by two researchers working under the auspices of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. – Their work is being sponsored by the RNT Foundation.
