The source of GPS interference around Israel is unknown
On August 31, 2022, Haaretz reported that large-scale GPS signal interference occurred in Israel and its surrounding areas. The report emphasized that these interferences mainly affected the navigation systems of civil airliners, not ground vehicles. Experts analyzed that this interference may be caused by the use of military GPS jammers or GPS anti-drone systems.
Previously, many people believed that these interferences were caused by Russian troops stationed in Syria, but there are also views that Israel's anti-drone systems may also be the source of interference.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed that Israel and its neighbors have established a regional air defense alliance to prevent Iranian drones.
In response to questions about whether GPS interference is used to defend against Iranian drones, the IDF said that Israel "takes action on all fronts to deal with various threats on all fronts."
GPS interference affects the positioning accuracy of civil airliners
GPS interference plays a vital role in both military and civilian fields. There are two main means of GPS interference:
- Submerge GPS signals by broadcasting strong signals.
- Send false signals to deceive GPS receivers so that they receive incorrect time and location data, which may result in positioning deviations of tens of kilometers.
How does GPS signal interference work on civil airliners?
In recent years, most civil aircraft use the ADS-B system (Automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast). The ADS-B system is an aircraft monitoring technology that relies on aircraft to determine their location through satellite navigation systems and broadcast them regularly to make them trackable. The system relies on GPS signals to broadcast information such as the aircraft's location, altitude, and speed.
| ADS-B technical features |
1.Automatic: Data transmission does not require crew intervention 2.Related: Data transmission depends on airborne or vehicle-mounted systems 3.Monitoring: Provide aircraft position, altitude, identification number, speed, heading, etc 4.Broadcast: Data is sent using broadcast, and all users can receive data |
| ADS-B advantages |
1.Fast data update rate, richer information 2.High target position accuracy 3.Low maintenance cost, long service life 4.The cost is less than one-tenth of the secondary radar of air traffic control |
GPS interference around Israel is caused by multiple reasons
With the frequent occurrence of GPS interference in the eastern Mediterranean, Eurocontrol said that this interference may be related to military GPS signal jammer devices or GPS anti-drone systems. Although it was previously believed to be caused by the jamming system of the Russian army stationed in Syria, Israel's measures to prevent Iranian drones may also be one of the main reasons for this problem.
