NATO’s new tool shows the impact of GPS jammers

NATO News and Information Agency announced on April 6 that a new tool developed by NATO will help NATO prepare a GPS jammer so that the combatant command can see how the device will affect its GPS receiver.

“NATO’s adversaries have the ability to reduce or reject the capabilities of GPS,” NATO’s navigation and identification officer Jean-Philip Soré said in a statement. NATO must take appropriate measures to ensure that allied forces can fight in an environment where troops are degraded or rejected. “

Radar electromagnetic and communication coverage tools or React can estimate how much area a particular GPS jammer will affect. By entering the technical information and location data of known jammers, users can see on the map which areas will be affected by the device and make corresponding preparations.

The software can also be used for other global navigation satellite systems used by NATO, such as the European Union’s Galileo constellation.

The agency said that React is currently only used for testing and experiments. This feedback was submitted to the operator during the Trident Jupiter 2019 exercise. Developers are now working to ensure that the software is interoperable with NATO’s classified network and can be used to manipulate commands.

React is sponsored by the NATO Navigation and Identification Work Program, and is free for NATO member states.

Tools such as React highlight the alliance’s reliance on global navigation satellite systems for precise positioning, navigation, and timing data, as well as China, Russia, and Iran’s investment in R&D and field jamming equipment. For NATO, this is not just a hypothetical question: In 2018, Norwegian officials publicly declared that Russia interfered with GPS signals during the NATO Trident Jupiter exercise.

Enrico Cassini, NCI’s communications and navigation engineer, said: “NATO must maintain its advantages in the electromagnetic environment, including but not limited to positioning, navigation, and timing services. In recent years, the electromagnetic environment has become more competitive. fierce.”

At the same time, the US military has been working hard to overcome the threat of GPS signal jammer. For example, the US space forces are trying to achieve safer military signals through GPS III. Just last year, the US military deployed anti-jamming antennas to the German Second Cavalry Regiment.