Surge in Aircraft GPS Jamming Due to War... "1,100 Flights Affected Daily"

Route Deviation and Alarm Activation Causing Accidents
Russia, Ukraine, and Israel Military Spoofing Attacks

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Following the war in Ukraine, as the conflict in the Middle East prolongs, flights between Europe and Asia are facing safety threats due to GPS (Global Positioning System) jamming attacks. Since last month, it has been reported that over 1,100 flights daily have been affected by these jamming attacks, raising urgent calls for countermeasures. The disruptive signals, mainly caused by spoofing attacks from Russian, Ukrainian, and Israeli forces, have led to aircraft deviating from their routes and triggering warning alarms, increasing concerns over major accidents.

Incidents Caused by Fake GPS Signals... "Over 1,100 Flights Affected Daily Since August"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 23rd (local time), analysis by SkAI Data Services and Zurich University of Applied Sciences shows that the number of flights affected by GPS jamming has surged to over 1,100 daily since August this year. Following the war in Ukraine, ongoing clashes between Israel and Hamas have exposed flights between Asia and Europe to spoofing attacks used in military operations.

GPS jamming has caused various incidents involving civilian aircraft since last year. According to WSJ, in September last year, a civilian aircraft nearly entered Iranian airspace without authorization due to GPS jamming, and in July, the cockpit electronic map of an Airbus A320 departing from Cyprus suddenly directed the plane in an unexpected direction.

The aviation industry reports a sharp increase in fake GPS signals over the past six months. These fake signals have caused flight paths to be incorrectly assigned, clocks to malfunction, and sudden false warning alarms, resulting in numerous incidents that severely threaten the safety of Asia-Europe routes.

Ken Alexander, chief scientist for satellite navigation at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), warned WSJ, "This problem we are facing increases the workload for pilots," adding, "If a flight experiencing such fake GPS jamming coincides with an emergency, a catastrophic accident could occur."

Spoofing Attacks by Russian, Ukrainian, and Israeli Forces... Used in Drone and Missile Jamming Operations

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

As operations using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and ballistic missiles have significantly increased in the war zones of Ukraine and the Middle East, spoofing attacks aimed at jamming enemy drones and missiles have also surged. Consequently, civilian aircraft passing through Eastern Europe and the Middle East frequently enter the range of spoofing attacks, gradually increasing the risk of accidents.

Spoofing attacks are mainly used to mislead suicide drones to crash in locations other than their intended targets. According to CNN, Daniel Pat Hudson, a senior researcher at a research institute, testified before the U.S. Congress in March that "due to Russian spoofing attacks, the hit rate of U.S. Excalibur guided missiles used by Ukraine dropped sharply from 70% to 6%."

The Washington Post (WP) also pointed out, "Due to radio interference, Excalibur missiles have been effectively withdrawn from the battlefield since the second half of last year, and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has become practically useless." Both Russian and Ukrainian forces actively use GPS spoofing to defend against enemy drone and missile attacks.

In particular, spoofing signals used to disrupt the flight of small drones are widely employed because they can be easily produced using inexpensive software-defined radios (SDR) and some free software communication devices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.