Some darn odd monkeyshines are going on in China. Here is the link.
It seems people or groups in China and Russia are faking out GPS devices from time to time. A meaconing device of some sort is strong enough to screw up locator system within about 200M. It seems such incidents are associated with VIP visits, or perhaps illegal activities.
I bet such a device could cause serious, even fatal accidents in the wrong place.
How?
Cause an airplane to crash, maybe.
December Scientific American had an article about how easy it would be to jam the GPS signal and how the US hasn’t done a damned thing about it even though W called for something in 2004 and congress even voted money for it in 2016 (I think). But the most frightening thing about the article was that three countries have installed ground-based backups that wouldn’t work as well, but would work. The three countries: Russia, China, and Iran. Doesn’t that thrill you? Those three countries could jam the system and not suffer much. Perhaps China is just testing the possibility.
Russia already has its own, completely separate, satellite navigation system fully operational as well. China is building out its own separate satellite navigation system. They already have regional coverage and are working towards full global coverage by next year sometime. Apparently they didn’t like being dependent on a US Air Force operated system for navigation.
The ground based system isn’t a backup for GPS. It’s a backup for their wholly independent satellite navigation systems.
An airplane flying on autopilot 200 meters from the ground?
I recall reading that GPS spoofing has been used for a long time by fishermen to illegally fish outside their designated fishing zones. (If anybody checks the logs, they won’t show where the boat actually was.)
I don’t remember about it being more or less prevalent in China than elsewhere.
Last I heard the old pre-GPS radiobeacons are still operational over most of the US. Some have fallen out of service but not all of them.
A screwed up GPS signal isn’t going to cause an airplane to crash but the pilots sure might get lost without it if they’re rusty on the old school stuff, or if the old school network has gotten very spotty over time. Radios will still work, and old school systems.
The US is doing something about it and early results are quite effective. The STOICproject is one of several efforts.
Worst case, look at old spy planes like the SR-71: the computer would lock onto stars in the sky for the navigational system. 300-foot accuracy in the 1960s.
**FUCK **McNamara for canceling the SR-71 program.