GPS Jamming is a Low Priority and That’s a Mistake

GPS Jamming is a low priority topic in the US. That is a mistake, as GPS jammers domestically can hinder military operations, commercial and private aviation, commercial transport fleets, Fire, EMS, and LE.  As of this writing there are no domestic or internationally reported deaths caused by jamming of GPS signals. GPS Jamming is against US Code, but as so often occurs there are exceptions to that. Purchasing, selling, or advertising of jammers are illegal. There is very little impact with the Continental US (CONUS) GPS Jamming at this point. That could change easily though as it is relatively easy to make or surreptitiously import GPS Jammers of various power. The first time a large scale jamming event occurs in CONUS the hue and cry will be huge, especially if there serious property damage or loss of life. A large jamming event in Europe with major property damage or loss of life may bring it to the US news media.

In the US there are some areas where GPS jamming does take place. The first is little known airfield in Nevada at the Tonopah Test Range NW of Las Vegas. Where for some reason, GPS just fails to work or sync with satellites at times.

The second is along the Mexican border. This primarily done by the Cartels to hinder US and Mexican LE operations. Because of the small size and high power demands of GPS Jammers the impact is usually localized.

The Baltic Sea, which is surrounded by NATO members, is often heavily jammed causing hazards to aerial and sea navigation. This has caused flight rerouting from Sweden and Finland south to Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Nations directly affected by this Sweden and Finland principally have protested vigorously to no avail

The principal site where GPS jamming of the Baltic Sea principally occurs from the Russian salient on the Baltic coast between Lithuania and Poland. GPS Jamming signals have originated at high levels from Kaliningrad itself and along the Lithuanian border for some time. The Kaliningrad site alone has been responsible for blacking out GPS over much of the Baltic.

Operationally, the use of GPS jammers in the Ukraine War has reduced effectiveness of the US M982 Excalibur 155mm extended range artillery shell from 70% to 7%. It has also impacted the Ukrainian use of launch and forget drones and missiles with navigation based on GPS. This also prevents smaller observation drones from sending back accurate locations to enable artillery/HIMARS/MLRS strikes on specific targets.

Below is the jamming map for the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. Crimea is almost no-GPS, due to attacks by Ukraine, the country without a Navy attacking & attacking numerous Russian Navy ships. Along the Romania border and Turkey along the Black Sea is shut down on a consistent basis. 

In the Eastern Med, there is a lot of jamming around Cyperus where Black Sea recon flights originate from. The area around and around Israel and Lebanon is consistently jammed to hinder Hamas and Hezbollah.

While there are alternatives to GPS, it is the preferred navigation de jure choice worldwide. Jammers operate against a variety of parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A GPS jammer will prevent a GPS device from syncing it’s location with the four of the thirty-one GPS satellites in orbit needed to determine a precise location. In my experience a GPS device I owned would sync with seven or eight satellites when I was hunting. 

Since the Measle Map of my hunting locations I would leave my wife was based on those GPS locations, she would be able to easily have my remains recovered to speed up the payout of my life insurance policy. Military and civilian GPS devices do not have a difference in position accuracy. Military devices use two frequencies as opposed to the civilian single frequency. 

Encrypted GPS receivers can defeat spoofing of GPS signals. The use of Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna’s (CPRA) is often used in high jamming or spoofing environments. CRPA’s react dynamically to jamming or spoofing signals. They are being used more often in military systems. Eventually they will begin appearing in non-military systems. 

Another method is to destroy the jammer. The JDAM-ER which is fin-guided can now be equipped with seeker heads designed to target GPS Jammers. In the future, more adaptations will bring changes and new Techniques, Tactics, and Procedures.  Technological advantages like GPS jamming are relatively short lived until newer technology counters it.

The heavy and increasing use of GPS jamming follows along a technical course which surprisingly took longer to impact the battlefield. Russian jamming was noted very early in the war and only in the past six months or so has it given rise to having a significant impact.

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Carl began his military career as a Marine Sergeant stationed in various locations, including Japan and Camp Pendleton, before shifting gears to become an Elementary Special Education teacher and working in EMS in Flagstaff in 1977. Opting out of Marine Corps duties in 1978, he joined the Army in January 1979, directly reporting to the Intelligence School at Fort Huachuca. Throughout the early 1980s, he served as a Middle East Analyst for the 82nd Airborne Division and later aided in preparing the deployment of the first US Battalion to the Multinational Force and Observers in February 1982.

Transitioning roles, he became a Middle East Analyst for XVIIIth Airborne Corps, contributing to Operation Urgent Fury. In 1984, he joined the Ranger Regiment and later attended the University of Maryland in Heidelberg, graduating in 1988. Assigned to 1st Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg in 1989, he found himself deploying to Desert Storm in 1990 as an Intelligence Sergeant. Post-war, he continued his service in various intelligence management roles, completing his MA in International Relations before retiring.