An uptick in GPS jamming is disrupting navigation across maritime and aviation routes in active conflict zones — as well as outside
GPS jamming incidents have grown extensively in recent years. According to multiple sources, thousands of jamming attacks have been reported in the Middle East since the start of the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
According to Windward — a maritime analytics firm — over 1,100 vessels experienced GPS interference in one day in March. These ships popped up in the wrong places on the map, their true locations severely obfuscated by signal jamming. Some were falsely positioned in airports, some in a nuclear power plant, and others in Iranian territory.
The incidents have heightened navigation and compliance risks, significantly impacting transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
GPS or GNSS interferences such as jamming and spoofing have emerged as a new form of electronic warfare, where bad actors use radio frequency jamming tools to block ground-based receivers from picking up signals from satellites.
The trend has been highlighted in the 2026 Global Counterspace Capabilities report published by the Secure World Foundation (SWF) earlier this month, revealing a surge in jamming attacks in both GPS and satellite communications.
Modern ground-based jammers are highly effective in blocking signals between satellites and GPS receivers, as well as communication satellites’ uplinks and downlinks, that severely hampers communication.
Windward spotted 21 new AIS (Automatic Identification Systems) jamming clusters across the waters of the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Iran. But contrary to what many assume, this is not a situation specific to ongoing conflicts. Windward states that electronic interferences have been a prevailing issue in the region for a long time, that create “significant maritime navigation hazards for the roughly 10,000 vessels operating in the area at any given time,” in an article on the website.
The SWF report suggests that the Iranian government is actively involved in jamming Starlink signals which have been providing connectivity during the recent communication shutdown. “Iran has demonstrated an electronic warfare capability to persistently interfere with the broadcast of commercial satellite signals and Starlink ground terminals, although its capacity to interfere with military signals is difficult to ascertain,” the report said.
GPS interference is not just a threat to defense and maritime industries. Spikes in GPS spoofing, jamming, and other interferences have also been noted in business aviation operating outside of conflict zones. According to data, the U.S. air navigation services flag these events regularly. The occurrences have not only grown in frequency, but also in the number of hot-spot locations they impact outside the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all jamming and spoofing incidents to be reported by pilots. According to its latest GPS and GNSS interference report, the number of spoofing reports more than doubled between January 2025 and June 2025. The FAA notes that even though such interferences are more common in conflict zones, they also impact aircrafts “operating hundreds of nautical miles away.”
The incidents have caused critical risks to maritime and aerospace operations, creating delays in transit, operational uncertainty, and navigational errors and safety issues. Global authorities warn that the cases will continue to rise in sectors like public safety, telecom networks, and international commerce, if immediate action is not taken.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Transport (DoT) and the U.S. Department of War (DoW) in Sept 2025, a coalition group flagged the issue, urging both departments to work toward strengthening the safety of GPS systems.
“According to opensource information, approximately 700 jamming/spoofing events occurred every day in 2024. While those impacted certainly already work to get ahead of such episodes and U.S. commercial aviation pilots are trained to handle such incidents, your timely collaboration can help preempt the GPS jamming/spoofing global incidents from spreading within the United States,” the letter appealed.
Governments and other independent groups are actively working to stop bad actors from intentionally intercepting signals. Best practices such as use of resilient architectures, modernization of GPS systems, and integration of safety-of-life technologies into operations are being promotes as means to mitigate risks and improve security.
The SWF report also highlights that several countries are developing counterspace capabilities to take out adversary satellites. There is also a quiet push toward building “bodyguard” satellites or co-orbital assets that can shadow and protect military and intelligence satellites from jamming attacks, physical interferences, and cyberattacks.
Additionally, new laws need to be put in place and enforced rigorously, while sanctions must be imposed when they are violated, in order to fully protect the ecosystem from harmful interferences.
For more on the topic of GPS jamming and spoofing, register for the RCR Defense Communications Forum happening on April 28.
