GPS-spoofing is now a global threat, so what are nations doing to fight it?

As GPS-spoofing disrupts flights, networks and navigation systems worldwide, governments are accelerating efforts to build new PNT backups to secure critical infrastructure

The digital systems that power modern life run on signals most of us never think about. For decades, those signals have been steady and invisible. But over the past year, they have begun to show alarming cracks. From airliners over Delhi to aircraft flying across the Black Sea and the Baltic, pilots have reported their satellite navigation systems abruptly insisting they are hundreds of kilometres from their real position. Aviation authorities now link tens of thousands of these malfunctions to deliberate jamming and spoofing of GPS, indicating how much of the world is quietly being stitched together by this technology.

 

What is GPS and why does the world rely on it?

 

The Global Positioning System, or GPS, is a constellation of at least 24 US military satellites orbiting high above Earth. Each satellite continuously broadcasts highly precise time and position data. Receivers in aircraft, ships, smartphones or telecom towers take signals from multiple satellites and calculate their exact location and time.

 

GPS began in 1973 as a Cold War project, launched its first satellite in 1978, and became fully operational in 1995. Today, the US Space Force maintains 31 active satellites, spending roughly $1.84 billion annually on operations and upgrades. 

 

How does GNSS bind together modern infrastructure?

 

GPS is now one of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), alongside Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo and China’s BeiDou. All provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). Of these, timing is the most crucial. Telecom networks, financial markets, stock exchanges, data centres and power grids require microsecond-level synchronisation, and GPS provides it.

 

Transport systems rely on GPS across aviation, shipping, rail operations and logistics. Scientists use it for climate and Earth-observation research. Agriculture depends on it for precision farming. Everyday navigation apps sit on top of this vast, unseen reliance. 

The ramifications of GPS spoofing in military 

GPS has a significant military usage that in fact was foundational to its development and remains increasingly crucial to its operation even in today's warfare. Its primary goal was to enable accurate targeting of ballistic missiles and improve navigation for submarines, aircraft, and ground forces regardless of weather or terrain.

 

For example, the Ukraine war has highlighted the critical military role GPS plays in military endeavours but also exposed its vulnerabilities. Since the conflict began in 2022, both Russian and Ukrainian forces have extensively used and encountered GPS jamming and spoofing, disrupting navigation for drones, precision-guided munitions, and communications repeatedly. Russian forces have jammed GPS signals over wide areas, complicating navigation and causing reliance on alternative guidance methods like inertial navigation for the Ukrainian forces.

 

Both sides have adapted by using alternative navigation techniques and hardened systems, but the pervasive GPS interference raised the demand for resilient, diverse navigation technologies that can operate under contested conditions, reinforcing ongoing efforts globally to develop GPS alternatives and backups.

 

Why is GPS interference rising worldwide?

 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates around 430,000 GPS jamming and spoofing incidents over conflict zones in 2024, up sharply from 260,000 in 2023—a 62 per cent jump. Aviation bodies say roughly 56 out of every 1,000 flights experienced GPS issues in 2024.

 

Technical investigations in the Black Sea, Eastern Mediterranean and parts of Russia show classic spoofing signs where aircraft instruments suddenly “pulled” off track or displayed looping, impossible paths.

 

India has faced disruptions too. In June, an Air India Express flight from Delhi to Jammu returned after suspected interference. In November, Delhi airport recorded its first confirmed spoofing incidents, contributing to disruptions affecting 350 flights during a broader technical outage.

 

India’s DGCA has now ordered that all GPS-spoofing events, including abnormal satellite behaviour or sudden signal loss, must be reported within 10 minutes.

 

Which systems compete with or complement GPS?

 

GPS is the most widely used GNSS, but others provide global coverage:

 

• Russia’s GLONASS

 

• Europe’s Galileo

 

• China’s BeiDou

 

India and Japan operate regional systems tailored to national needs. India’s NavIC has seven satellites offering civilian and encrypted services, and is rapidly being upgraded. The government plans to mandate NavIC support in smartphones, especially 5G models, aided by production-linked incentives.

 

What backups are countries building to counter spoofing?

 

With interference rising, nations are treating GPS resilience as urgent national policy. In the US, a 2018 law pushed the Department of Transportation to test backup PNT systems. Trials examined 11 technologies—from enhanced Loran (eLoran) to low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites and fibre-based timing distribution.

 

In July 2024, the US DOT awarded $7.2 million for complementary PNT testing, followed by $5 million in rapid-development contracts for eLoran, LEO-based systems and resilient timing networks. The FCC has separately warned that relying on a single satellite system leaves the country vulnerable to a “single point of failure”.

 

Australia recently tested new navigation devices for future US military operations, emphasising quantum sensors and celestial navigation designed to resist jamming and spoofing.

 

The UK has moved aggressively, announcing $202 million to protect essential national signals, including $92 million to begin building a national eLoran network—its signals are millions of times stronger than GPS at the receiver and far harder to jam.

 

Across Europe, the US and Asia, companies are developing LEO PNT constellations, ultra-precise terrestrial time networks and advanced inertial or quantum sensors capable of guiding aircraft and vehicles even without satellite signals.

 

China and Russia are also building additional PNT layers.

 

Will the world stop relying on GPS anytime soon?

 

GPS supports a global market worth more than $100 billion in 2024. But the recent wave of spoofing—from conflict zones to Delhi’s airport—has exposed how vulnerable this backbone can be. Rather than replacing GPS, nations appear to be building layered resilience: more satellites, more diverse frequencies and more terrestrial backups.

 

If one system fails, the others must keep the world’s clocks and compasses running.