The US Federal Aviation Authority last month issued a warning to US aircraft flying over the eastern Mediterranean region of the increased threat of Russian electronic warfare jamming: “be aware of possible loss of GNSS (global navigation satellite system) signal within Beirut FIR (flight information region) due to unforeseen reasons”
The NATO exercise, Trident Juncture, concluded Sunday and involved some 50,000 personnel. It was labeled the alliance’s largest exercise since the Cold War. Non-NATO members Finland and Sweden also participated in the exercise. A spokesperson for the Norwegian ministry of defense acknowledged the GPS jammer to CNN, which it said took place between October 16 and November 7, and said it would defer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on further questions to Russian authorities.
While late-night comedians found the whole idea of the Space Force hilarious, the reality is that the United States faces growing threats from space. These include not only anti-satellite missiles that can shatter satellites into thousands of pieces of debris, but lasers capable of “dazzling” and blinding satellite systems, as well as cyber and jammer threats. The range of potential space adversaries includes not only Russia and China, but, as the vice president noted, also Iran and North Korea.
The proliferation of signal jammer and Russia’s growing prowess in using them could threaten the U.S. military’s expanding fleet of UAVs. In 2011, Iran apparently used a Russian-made Avtobaza jammer to force down a U.S. Air Force RQ-170 stealth spy drone along the Afghanistan-Iran border. Russia reportedly jammed American UAVs over Ukraine in 2014.
The Pentagon is keenly aware of the risk. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s long-running Communications Under Extreme R.F. Spectrum Conditions initiative and similar programs aim to develop “signal detection and reasoning technology that allows radios to recognize interference and jamming, and adapt to maintain communications — even in the presence of severe and/or adaptive jamming,” according to DARPA program manager Joseph Evans.
Last month, Perfectjammer announced the capability to detect drone swarms, and assuming the same conditions, MyDefence is now announcing drone swarm jamming capability, which was demonstrated at Electric Storm. During the event, five drone operators attempted to execute a coordinated drone attack. The coordinated attack was effectively neutralized using the PJ Drone Gun Pro jammer, and all drone operators lost control of their drones.