{"id":17418,"date":"2022-03-14T08:51:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T12:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=17418"},"modified":"2022-03-14T15:30:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T19:30:06","slug":"signal-jam-us-gps-interference-testing-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/signal-jam-us-gps-interference-testing-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Signal Jam: US GPS Interference Testing This Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the remainder of March, the US military are carrying out GPS interference testing in three locations around the US for extended periods of time. During these periods, aircraft within 350nm of the tests may lose GPS signal completely \u2013 including WAAS<\/strong> and ADS-B.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick summary of what\u2019s happening, and when.<\/p>\n

Wait. It ain’t broken – why do they have to interfere with it in the first place?<\/h4>\n

Simply put, because the military need to be prepared if GPS signals are lost due to enemy jamming. That way it allows service personnel to train in an environment where it is not available.<\/p>\n

In the event of a large-scale conflict, it is likely that the constellation of GPS satellites may be targeted or interfered with to erode the other\u2019s side\u2019s ability to navigate, deploy weapons accurately or even operate surveillance drones or other unmanned vehicles.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve written about GPS jamming before \u2013 take a look at our article<\/a> if you\u2019d like to know a little more.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, aviation is forced to make way for these exercises. Despite being heavily dependent on GPS, the exercises simply have to happen. And in fact, they are happening more often than ever before. They are four times as frequent as they were just ten years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The military are training to operate when GPS isn’t available. Courtesy: Defence Talk<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Back to what’s happening this month.<\/h4>\n

There are three tests<\/strong> to be aware of (the range of outages increases with flight level).<\/p>\n

Southeastern US<\/em><\/p>\n

A Carrier Strike Group will be carrying out tests<\/a> off the coast of South Carolina. Three days are affected:<\/p>\n

15 March<\/strong> 1900z – 2130z<\/p>\n

17 March<\/strong> 1200z – 1630z<\/p>\n

28 March<\/strong> 1200z \u2013 1630z<\/p>\n

……..(Local time GMT-4)<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a map of the affected area:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong>South Carolina Courtesy: FAA<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

More testing<\/a> is happening over at Fort Irwin, California. The test days are much more frequent than the other side of the country:<\/p>\n

16 March<\/strong> 0700z \u2013 1259z<\/p>\n

18 March<\/strong> 0700z \u2013 1259z<\/p>\n

19 March<\/strong> 0700z \u2013 1259z\u00a0 1830z \u2013 2200z<\/p>\n

20 March<\/strong> 1830z \u2013 2200z<\/p>\n

21 March<\/strong> 0700z \u2013 1259z\u00a0 1830z \u2013 2200z<\/p>\n

22 March<\/strong> 1830z \u2013 2200z<\/p>\n

……..(Local time GMT-7)<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a map of the affected area:<\/p>\n

\"\"California Courtesy: FAA<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Testing<\/a> will also be carried out up North at Ft. Greely in South-eastern Alaska across multiple days:<\/p>\n

15 March<\/strong> 0001z \u2013 0300z\u00a0 0900z \u2013 1200z<\/p>\n

16 March<\/strong> 0001z \u2013 0600z\u00a0 1700z \u2013 2000z<\/p>\n

17 March<\/strong> 1800z \u2013 2300z<\/p>\n

18 March<\/strong> 2200z \u2013 2359z<\/p>\n

19 March<\/strong> 1800z \u2013 2300z<\/p>\n

20 March<\/strong> 2200z \u2013 2359z<\/p>\n

21 March<\/strong> 1800z \u2013 2300z<\/p>\n

22 March<\/strong> 1000z \u2013 1700z<\/p>\n

23 March<\/strong> 2200z \u2013 2359z<\/p>\n

24 March<\/strong> 1800z \u2013 2300z<\/p>\n

25 March<\/strong> 2200z \u2013 2359z<\/p>\n

……..(Local time GMT-8)<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a map of the affected area:<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alaska Courtesy: FAA<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t forget to report any outages.<\/h4>\n

It is important that any GPS interference is reported to the FAA \u2013 even though the interference is deliberate. There\u2019s a proper process to follow for that which you can find in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM).<\/p>\n

The relevant bits are paragraphs 1-1-13 and 5-3-3. Here\u2019s a link<\/a> to that document.<\/p>\n

But in a nutshell, aircraft should notify ATC, use a different source of navigation and if necessary, request an amended clearance.<\/strong> It would also be a good time to grab a pen and write down as many details as you can as they\u2019ll want a whole bunch of information in your report to the FAA. This will need to be submitted<\/a> when you\u2019re back on good ol\u2019 terra firma. Click the link to see just how much information they\u2019re after.<\/p>\n

Why should we bother reporting?<\/h4>\n

Because GPS jamming tests are an ongoing issue for civil aviation and it is important to keep tabs on just how much of a problem it is. They are having a growing impact on the US NAS which is becoming more and more dependent on GPS always being fully operational. Work is ongoing to safely accommodate these tests alongside aviation and the more info the industry has, the better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the remainder of March, the US military are carrying out GPS interference testing in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":17440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[404,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-17418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-briefings","8":"tag-gps","9":"tag-jamming"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17418"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17449,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17418\/revisions\/17449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}