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What’s new: A NATO news release that it is doing something (?) about GPS jamming and spoofing in civil aviation.
Why it’s important:
- Jamming and spoofing can contribute to accidents and people getting killed. As examples:
- A passenger aircraft that was accidentally (we think) jammed nearly crashed in Sun Valley, ID.
- An airliner trying to land in Russia was misidentified because of jamming and spoofing, was fired upon, and 38 people died when it crashed in Kazakhstan.
- Russia is practicing electronic warfare on its neighbors in northern Europe with all its jamming and spoofing. In addition to aviation, maritime and some infrastructures are often also impacted.
What else to know:
- This kind of thing is very difficult to counter with military operations short of getting into a shooting war.
- We would like to have more information on exactly what NATO is doing to:
“…make civil aviation more resilient, including by upgrading civil and military mechanisms, deploying ground based infrastructure, developing a more agile reporting and tracking system, and further bolstering cooperation with key international partners...”
NATO addresses electromagnetic interference threats to civil aviation safety
Civil aviation is increasingly affected by jamming and spoofing. The NATO Aviation Committee continues its work to address these threats, in close cooperation with other international organisations, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation and EUROCONTROL.
Acts of intentional interference carried out by state and non-state actors – for instance deliberate jamming or sending false Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals – can cause delays, rerouting or cancellation of take-offs and landings, and have significant negative economic impact on transport, global trade, and tourism.
The NATO Aviation Committee has noted that, as well as happening more often, and across different regions – including in the Baltic, Black Sea and Mediterranean – such interference is increasingly sophisticated. This is a cause for concern and warrants further action to make civil aviation more resilient, including by upgrading civil and military mechanisms, deploying ground based infrastructure, developing a more agile reporting and tracking system, and further bolstering cooperation with key international partners to counter GNSS interference.
The Aviation Committee is the senior civil-military NATO body, which advises the North Atlantic Council on all relevant aspects contributing to aviation safety and security, in support of the full range of NATO’s missions.
