What is GPS spoofing, how much effect does it have on flight landing?

A new challenge has emerged in the last few days at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, that of GPS spoofing. According to reports, in the last three days, many flights had to fly away from their scheduled direction, many even had to be diverted.

When easterly winds blow, this problem becomes more serious, because then the ships land from Dwarka side and take off from Vasant Kunj side.

GPS spoofing is a technique in which a system is confused by sending fake satellite signals. That is, fake signals that look like real GPS send wrong location, direction and time information to the airplane’s navigation system.

In such a situation, the pilot feels that the plane is on the right path, whereas in reality it has deviated from the path. This technique is different from jamming. In jamming, signals are completely blocked, whereas in spoofing, wrong data is sent, that is, pilots are deceived.

The biggest danger of GPS spoofing occurs during the landing and takeoff of a flight, because at that time the pilot needs accurate location and altitude information.

If a wrong signal is received, the plane may land in the wrong direction or miss the runway. This is the reason why many flights had to be diverted at Delhi Airport in recent times.

Experts say that GPS spoofing is a big threat to civil aviation, because it can not only spoil the flight direction but can also disturb the air traffic system. Airlines have alerted their pilots and advised them to use old navigation technology (INS) so that there is no complete dependence on GPS.