The U.S. military plans to test technologies this year that prevent gps jammer from being disturbed in the field.
A suspicion has emerged that indicates that the Russian armed forces have been able to interfere with GPS signals during military exercises and operations for several years.
Drones in particular can become unusable if these signals are blocked, or GPS spoofing can cause these devices to malfunction or crash.
U.S. officials have attributed attempts to interfere with GPS signals to the Russian military during past Syrian operations, and Russian troops are believed to have had a significant impact on UN surveillance drones used to monitor the area during the Crimean invasion ,
Breaking Defense reports that the U.S. has been lagging behind in GPS technology since the Cold War, and despite a lack of investment in the area, many U.S. Army operations are deploying drones and other technologies in both the air and the air the ground that relies on GPS signals to function.
Exposing the infrastructure underlying these devices and systems to attack or tampering can jeopardize future military operations.
To correct the problem, the anti-jamming technology, known as Assured Precision Navigation & Timing (APNT), is handed over to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.
The device based in Germany will try out the kit. If the trial proves successful, a second version is considered, which includes a backup inertial navigation system (INS) that is suitable for securing military networks when GPS is not available.
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Colonel Nickolas Kioutas told attendees at the C4ISRnet conference that “speed is critical,” the publication said, and the need for a way to prevent GPS interference has broken through the usual bureaucracy that would have prevented rapid adoption.
Instead of spending time and money on long-term development, the army is focusing on “smaller, iterative programs,” said Kioutas.
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By testing basic kits on-site with the goal of short time from project to trial, the U.S. Army can evaluate what works and what doesn’t – optimize and improve if necessary – instead of taking years to develop technologies that may not are suitable for the respective purpose.
Given that the United States, Finland, and Norway suspect a GPS jammer, it is probably of paramount importance that a military solution can be found – quickly.