Russian Electronic Warfare (GPS)

by TRex2 Wed Jan 29, 2020 4:30 am

The Russians have been employing a GPS jamming system in Syria, probably to defend their forces against drone attacks. Ham handed, side effects are causing flight hazards. The system is affecting airlines using GPS in Israel, and our Fighter planes as far as the Persian Gulf.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-and-how-russia-jamming-american-fighter-jets-near-iran-115021

Now, the situation is rife with rumor, with the Israeli government avoiding any official statement and still investigating other sources. But if Russia is indeed disrupting a friendly nation’s GPS by accident, why haven’t they stopped?

The answer may lie in the limits of Russian electronic warfare, which — while far more potent than U.S. military [electronic warfare] — still relies on raw power more than precise targeting.

The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations and Israeli Airports Authority in late June 2019 announced that many flights lost the GPS satellite signal while flying into or out of Ben Gurion International in Israel, Breaking Defense reported. There has been no risk to passengers, according to the IAA. The affected aircraft simply switched to backup systems.

“Intriguingly, ground-based GPS systems are unaffected,” Breaking Defense noted. “That makes the jamming of aviation GPS suspiciously specific — another sign that it’s not a simple glitch but some kind of electronic weapon. And the Russians have invested heavily in high-powered spoofing systems that send out false GPS signals up to 500 times stronger than the real ones, leading civilian navigators miles astray.”