A new NATO-developed tool will help the alliance prepare for GPS jammers, allowing operational commands to see what impact the devices will have on their GPS receivers, the NATO Communications and Information Agency has announced. NATO on April 6.
"NATO adversaries have the ability to degrade or deny GPS capabilities," said Jean-Philippe Saulay, a NATO navigation and identification officer. "NATO must take appropriate steps to ensure that Allied forces can operate in a degraded or denied environment." environment."
The Radar Electromagnetic Coverage and Communications Tool, or REACT, is able to estimate the size of an area that will be affected by specific GPS jammer. By entering technical information and location data on known jammers, users can see on a map which areas will be affected by the devices and prepare accordingly.
The software also works for other global navigation satellite systems used by NATO, such as the European Union's Galileo constellation.
According to the agency, REACT is currently only used for testing and experimentation. It was shown to operators during Exercise Trident Jupiter 2019 for feedback. Developers are now working to ensure the software is interoperable with NATO classified networks and available to operational commands.
Sponsored by the NATO Navigation and Identification Work Programme, REACT is available free of charge to NATO members.
Tools such as REACT underscore the alliance's reliance on global navigation satellite systems for accurate position, navigation and timing data, as well as investments that China, Russia and Iran , among others, are doing to develop and implement jamming devices. And it's more than a hypothetical problem for NATO: In 2018, Norwegian officials publicly stated that Russia had jammed GPS signals during NATO's Trident Jupiter exercise.
“NATO must maintain its superiority in the electromagnetic environment, including but not limited to positioning, navigation and timing services,” said Enrico Casini, Communications and Navigation Engineer at the Agency. NCI. "The electromagnetic environment has become even more contested in recent years."
Meanwhile, the US military continues its efforts to overcome the threat posed by GPS jammers. For example, the US Space Force is working to enable a more secure military signal with GPS III, and last year the US Army sent anti-jamming antennas to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany.