January 2024: Airway UM688 has been the likely unintentional target of multiple GPS spoofing events. These events manifest as “suddenly, either the plane will start to turn or you’ll get a whole bunch of warnings: terrain failure, navigation error, position error.” The RNL’s Dr. Todd Humphreys believes that these sort of events are “here to stay,” as “Electronic warfare and small, cheap, attritable drones […] go hand in hand,” especially in the context of the Electronic Warfare observed in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The complexity of the aviation industry, including aviation regulatory agencies and aircraft operators, make improving the security of the entire system challenging. According to Dr. Humphreys, “the FAA has known about the spoofing threat for over 20 years. Nothing it has done in that time has really addressed the problem. I think it’s disgraceful.” For more on the subject, visit New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer article here.
