GPS Jammers Pose Threat to U.S. Military
Global positioning systems have a massive impact on the modern world. Companies such as Trimble Navigation make billions of dollars a year creating products and software that support the GPS. However, with the great advancements that companies like Trimble Navigation are making, new issues are arising as well. GPS jamming, an illegal action in which one blocks GPS receivers from detecting signals or scrambles the signals, has been at the forefront of the news. With a worldwide reliance on the GNSS, concerns about criminals interfering with GNSS receivers are relevant more than ever before. Reports have surfaced over recent years about crucial systems being jammed, such as emergency response vehicles, and even the London Stock Exchange’s financial trading platforms. Jammer detectors are becoming popular, so that people can detect if their device is being jammed.
While jamming GNSS receivers is illegal in most countries, it has not stopped some foreign governments from engaging in the activity. As U.S. tensions are high with Russia, the U.S. Military faces major concerns over the jamming of drones. In April, jammer detectors found Russia interfering with U.S. drones in Syria. The affected drones were small surveillance aircrafts, and not larger Predators and Reapers which can be armed. NBC News states, “The Russians began jamming some smaller U.S. drones several weeks ago, the officials said, after a series of suspected chemical weapons attacks on civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta.” The United States has not suggested whether or not the Russian interference has caused the drones to crash. However, officials have said that the jamming is impacting U.S. operations in Syria.
This is not the first time, however, that the United States government has caught Russia jamming drones. Four years ago, U.S. analysts caught the Russian military jamming UN drones in Ukraine. According to NBC, “The jammers "had a pretty significant impact" on the United Nations surveillance drones that were attempting to monitor the area, grounding the fleet for days and halting intelligence gathering from the air.”
IMPLICATIONS OF DRONE JAMMING ON UNITED STATES MILITARY AND TECHNOLOGY
The fact that Russia is interfering with the United States Military GPS and GNSS receivers shows how the changing technological landscape is affecting the political landscape as well. While both technologies are major advancements and offer many benefits involving safety, accuracy, and efficiency, the increased dependence on GPS and drones is adding new concerns that were never there before. Military strategists need to consider the jamming of GNSS receivers in their plans.