GPS trouble on the North Pacific routes

GPS interference is becoming more of a regular problem on the North Pacific routes between Asia and North America. We’ve had several member reports over the past few months, and last week I flew through the affected areas myself.

Here’s a map of what’s going on:

Click for PDF.

The first area – Kamchatka

The first reports started around Kamchatka in June. FAA data shows more than 100 civil aircraft have been affected around NUZAN since then. The reports span the Anchorage Oceanic and Magadan West FIRs.

Most crews reported GPS jamming – at least four reported possible spoofing. One of our members was westbound on R220 in a G650 when they lost GPS completely between NUZAN and NIPPI. ADS-B and synthetic vision disappeared with it. When the GPS returned, it appeared to be spoofed, with incorrect altitude and time. The whole event lasted almost 50 minutes.

The second area – Kuril Islands

In late July, reports started appearing further south around the Kuril Islands, in the northeastern part of the RJJJ/Fukuoka FIR.

Between July 22 and Aug 3, the FAA received six reports here – four jamming and two spoofing. Four aircraft were eastbound towards Anchorage, while two were westbound towards Tokyo and Seoul.

We’ve had more reports since then. R580 has been affected from around 100nm north of ONEMU through OPULO, with aircraft on R220 reporting problems too.

On Sep 10, one of our members was flying to Japan on R220 when they got intermittent GPS interference between NUZAN and NIPPI. They were at FL400 at the time.

So whatever is going on up here, it hasn’t gone away.

We flew through it last week

I flew R580 through the area last week in a G700. Knowing about the previous reports, we briefed the expected interference area on the ground and marked it on our flight plan package.

I also put fix rings around the expected entry and exit points in the FMS.

As we passed through, we monitored the GPS status page closely for any degradation or loss of satellites – but we saw… nothing! We had no problems in either direction. I’ll be back through there again next week, and we’ll do exactly the same thing.

The latest Notam

Update Sep 18: We now have a specific PAZA/Anchorage Notam for the Kamchatka area, saying there have been multiple reports of interference along R220 between NUZAN and NRKEY. Most reports have been short, and the source is unknown. Crews are asked to report how long the interference lasts and what it affects:

A2576/26 NOTAMN
Q) PAZA/QMNGW////000/999/7456N15444W005
A) PAZA
B) 2609182048
C) 2610312345
E) ATTENTION AIRCRAFT OPERATING IN THE ANCHORAGE ARTCC OCEANIC FIR. 
MULTIPLE REPORTS OF GNSS INTERFERENCE, JAMMING AND POSSIBLE SPOOFING 
HAVE BEEN RECEIVED ALONG ROUTE R220 NUZAN, AK TO NRKEY, AK. 
MOST REPORTS ARE OF SHORT DURATION. SOURCE UNKNOWN. 
IF EXPERIENCED, REPORT DURATION AND AVIONICS IMPACTS TO ATC.
F) SFC
G) UNL

But there are still no GPS interference Notams for the area around the Kuril Islands, the RJJJ/Fukuoka FIR, or any nearby Russian airspace either.

We also spoke to the team at GPSwise. They don’t have any reliable data from this area either, so for now it’s a bit of a black spot.

Live interference map from GPSwise.

So if you’re flying the NOPAC routes, particularly R220 or R580 around Kamchatka and the Kurils, it’s worth briefing the known areas before departure. And if you get hit, please do send us a report!