Russia Successfully Jams GPS During NATO Exercises

There’s a reason professional soldiers harp on mastering the basics- because when all else fails you’ll default to your highest level of training. If you can master what’s simple the rest is an enabler. But then again, skills are usually cheap and in a society that would rather throw money at technology to augment training issues, they take a backseat to big budget money pits. Such is the case with our over-reliance on GPS. Many have been warning of the dangers of GPS spoofing for over a decade. Now those concerns are not only validated but likely will still be unheeded in the years to come.

The Russians have demonstrated their growing electronics warfare (EW) capabilities in the most recent NATO exercises in Norway. The Norweigian government acknowledged the electronic attack to CNN, noting that:

“Norway has determined that Russia was responsible for jamming GPS signals in the Kola Peninsula during Exercise Trident Juncture. Finland has expressed concern over possible jamming in Lapland,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu told CNN Wednesday.

NATO and US officials would offer no additional details of the attack, with the Pentagon denying it having any effect. Russia is also denying any knowledge of such an attack in their statement to ABC News and cited in The Hill, stating

“We know nothing about Russia’s possible involvement in those GPS failures,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to ABC.

Norwegian civilians were well aware of the attack however, as pilots in Norway and Finland reported losing GPS navigation signals. NATO leaders and regional government officials noted the similarities between this incident and the Russian Zapad exercise of 2017.

There’s little doubt from my point of view there was an electronic attack with the goal to see what sort of disruption could be achieved. The Russians, by the way, have their own satellite navigation system called GLONASS which works entirely independent of the Western GPS. These examples however painfully illustrate the issues we have with technology. Be it communications or navigation, essential skills are being forgotten in lieu of high tech. It will be to our peril.

But it doesn’t have to be for you. We’ve got classes on the basics. Check the schedule and come on out.

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12 Comments

  1. Daniel November 16, 2018 at 17:48

    The Norwegians also managed to sink one of their own frigates. Nothing like war games to showcase how weak and incompetent your forces are. Link has many photos of mayhem and dismay.

    https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/stricken-norwegian-frigate-sinks-near-bergen

    • NC Scout November 16, 2018 at 19:55

      “The Ingstad collided with a merchant tanker on Thursday and was intentionally grounded in an attempt to prevent her from fully sinking.”

      Sounds VERY familiar to issues Arleigh Burke class destroyers were having in the western Pacific.

  2. ragman November 17, 2018 at 08:19

    Not good. My background is in aviation and I can say with certainty that aviation in 2018 is almost totally dependent on GPS. Although modern airplanes have inertial navigation as a backup, it’s not as accurate as GPS. Many VOR and NDB navaids have been decommissioned. Instrument approaches using said navaids aren’ t even published anymore. How many sailors know how to use a sextant? Can you even buy a sextant that’s not an antique? Your comments indicate that soldiers and Marines are deficient in land navigation skills. We know that even the most basic skills must be used to remain proficient. You are to be commended for offering such valuable training.

  3. […] to spoof both military and civilian GPS receivers. During the latest NATO exercise in Scandinavia, western forces were successfully jammed despite NATO reports to the contrary. Norway even lost a relatively new Frigate in an apparent […]

  4. Reasonable Rascal November 18, 2018 at 17:36

    How many people have buried caches that they expect to relocate using GPS?

    Another person commented on the affect to aviation GPS has had. VOR is not as good or as sexy as satellite nav but it worked and is far more resistant to outside interference – Carrington Event anyone? Just make sure you reset your indicator before takeoff each time, or find a convenient road and ask directions along the way (ahem).

    Loran is another older aid to navigation that has been all but wiped out. I understand there are some systems left operational but how many and where? Have the efforts to resurrect it panned out?

    Even the magnetic pole shifts over time. Are we humans so arrogant as to believe any system we create will remain accurate and operational no matter what? I have GPS in the vehicles, and also compasses. The latter for a reason.

  5. Anonymous November 25, 2018 at 15:22

    5

  6. […] relation directly to this news post, this two year old, short article, from the Defensive Training Group blog, on why one […]

  7. […] relation directly to this news post over at American Partisan, this two year old, short article, from the Defensive Training […]

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