Shortly before the Russian invasion started in February, there were massive GPS interference along the Ukraine-Belarus border. The activity was detected just north of Chernobyl, within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, HawkEye 360, said on March 4, calling it a demonstration of the “integration of electronic warfare tactics into Russian military operation to further degrade Ukraine’s ability for self-defense”.
“This is a modern war, with the Russians leveraging the latest in Electronic Warfare technologies. This is representative of the tactics that Russian troops are deploying to degrade the effectiveness of space based assets, such as the United States Global Positioning System. GPS jamming is one facet that we are seeing evidence through the use of our signal detection constellation and processing capabilities,” HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini told Geospatial World over email.
HawkEye 360’s unique satellites can monitor radio frequency signals from space over hundreds of millions of square kilometers daily.
Analysis of the GPS signals around Ukraine over the past four months revealed continued and increased GPS interference across this particular region. The analysts discovered extensive GPS interference as far back as November 2021 along the boundary of the Luhansk and Donetsk, regions controlled by pro-Russian separatist forces.
“We started to collect GPS interference signals back in the Fall, quickly recognizing it as a useful signal to monitor. We continue to collect that signal and other data across Eastern Europe, as it has emerged as a critical indicator of human activity,” Serafini added.
Open-source information also confirmed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) operating in the area were disrupted due to lost GPS connections.
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Jamming happening since much longer
Pentagon officials had recently said that localized Russian jamming of GPS signals in Ukraine has been detected by US forces in the region, but so far has not interfered with US support operations. Breaking Defense reported that jamming was detected as far out as the Black Sea by US reconnaissance aircraft, but that didn’t have any impact on mission capability.
Way back in April 2021, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had warned of GPS signal interference in the region. On the evening of 6 April, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was unable to take off from its base in government-controlled Stepanivka (54 km north of Donetsk) to conduct regular monitoring of areas on both sides of the contact line, due to dual GPS signal interference assessed as caused by jamming. “This is the first time such interference has prevented a take-off since the Mission launched long-range UAV operations in October 2014,” OSCE had said in a statement on April 7, 2021.
It added that since late March, the SMM’s long-range UAVs have been experiencing increased levels of GPS signal interference on take-off and landing, affecting both of their GPS receivers, in areas near their base in Stepanivka, located approximately 25km west-north-west of the contact line.
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A second OCSE report on April 9, 2021 had stressed that the problem was continuing leading to missions being aborted. “Any GPS signal interference hinders the Mission’s ability to conduct effective monitoring and reporting of the security situation in line with its mandate. Long-range UAVs are an essential part of SMM operations, especially at night and in areas where the Mission’s monitoring and freedom of movement are restricted,” it said.
GPS jamming is a major issue
Since military forces regularly use GPS jammers to obscure and protect critical troops, facilities, and equipment from attack, this can be a leading indicator of future military activity in a region. While interference can be inadvertent when multiple equipment operate too close to GPS frequency bands, incidents of deliberate GPS interference has spiked across the world over the past years. This has been possible mainly due to low cost, ease of deployment, and general availability of GPS jamming technology. Extremist organizations and nefarious elements such as drug cartels use GPS jammers to deter surveillance from overhead drones even though their use is illegal in most developed parts of the world.
“GPS is a fundamental ‘global commons’ service that all modern economies depend upon. GPS signal interference has the potential to significantly disrupt air travel, logistics, finance, transportation, communication, and many other basic services,” Serafini earlier said in a statement. “Whether unintentional or deliberate, interference that prevents people, vehicles, ships, and planes from determining accurate locations can be devastating to government and commercial activities alike.
Last year, the Herndon, Virginia-based company announced that it has acquired the capability to detect and geolocate interference in GPS signals, which may threaten military and civil navigation applications. The capability was tested last year in a variety of exercises and is currently available as part of HawkEye 360’s RFGeo signal product catalogue.
