An image of a GPS screen in a car as residents of Dubai face GPS disruptions on March 9, 2026, in the United Arab Emirates (AFP / -)
The explosion causing conflicts over GPS signal disruptions, crucial for aviation and maritime navigation, raises questions about the alternatives given the dependence on satellite navigation systems.
“It’s almost like a drug that we need to try to wean ourselves off,” says AFP Ramsey Faragher, head of the Royal Institute of Navigation, an international think tank based in the UK.
“It will take us some time, but we need to start this process,” he argues.
Why seek a solution?
Wars in Ukraine, the Middle East… all have seen a systematic jamming of satellite signals targeting enemy forces, which significantly affects the navigation of aircraft, ships, and smartphones of the populations.
These disruptions are currently occurring in the Russo-Ukrainian region, the Gulf of Finland, the Middle East, and around Myanmar mainly, according to real-time interactive jamming maps online.
Officers of the Swiss army in front of a life-size replica of a satellite that will be launched into space to detect GPS jammers, in Thun, Switzerland, on March 26, 2026 (AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI)
“Jamming” involves manipulating data to complicate GPS signal reception, while “spoofing” involves diverting the signal to show an incorrect position.
Commercial transport can continue to operate, but it is sometimes heavily disrupted. According to Antoine Godier, a Boeing 777 pilot interviewed by AFP, “there won’t be a more accurate navigation system. However, we need to continue to have alternative systems, because these are not susceptible to jamming.”
What are the alternatives?
– Modernized GPS: These tools, initially for military use and recently authorized for commercial use, have antennas that can identify manipulation attempts unlike traditional receivers. However, they are bulkier, heavier, and more expensive, notes Ramsey Faragher.
“Inertial navigation: This ancient guidance mode is used by aircraft, allowing autonomous navigation through a gyroscope measuring the speed, direction, and location of the craft.
Accompanied by a radio system that relies on ground beacons, the aircraft can continue to fly without GPS, although this system is less reliable. Inertial navigation becomes less accurate over time, and modern radars and gyroscopes are often connected to GPS, which can render their relay capacities useless.
– Low Earth Orbit satellites: Like Starlink satellite constellations for the internet, using low Earth orbit satellites is seen by some experts as a serious option. It is more difficult to disrupt signals due to the closer proximity compared to GPS satellites which are much farther from Earth.
“Ground-based technologies: Other mechanisms such as gravitational navigation, used primarily for submarines, utilize the Earth’s topology for navigation, on which companies are working. Celestial navigation is also mentioned, with a modern version equipped with cameras pointed towards the sky and computer software.
Can we really do without GPS?
Without GPS, “you would probably need to combine four or five different technologies, which would make the system much more costly, bulkier, and energy-intensive,” believes Mr. Faragher.
“The horizon for implementation would be years, because measuring the implications of this system implementation, being able to show the malfunctions it will generate, establishing new procedures among crews, is far from insignificant,” according to pilot Antoine Godier.
