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Insight and Technology

Planes are under attack from GPS jamming – can we find a fix?

GPS jamming and spoofing has begun to affect transatlantic flights. Now the race is on to develop alternative ways of navigating

By Jeremy Hsu

15 July 2024

Air traffic controllers can track transatlantic flights’ GPS problems

NATS

Disruptions to GPS signals, which began near war zones in Europe and the Middle East, are now affecting the busiest oceanic airspace in the world. More than 1700 transatlantic flights cross the North Atlantic between Europe and North America each day. In recent months, a small but growing number of these flights have lost reliable GPS service over Europe or the Middle East and failed to recover it before the ocean crossing.

“We receive daily reports of aircraft that experience jamming prior to entering oceanic airspace,” says Jane Johnston

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