Modern aircraft rely on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to know their position. Often referred to as GPS, GNSS include the US Global Positioning System, Europe’s Galileo, Russia’s GLONASS, China’s BeiDou, and others. These systems use satellite constellations to determine the position of a receiver. In aircraft using ADS-B, that received position is then broadcast via the transponder to ground stations and other aircraft.
Interference with these signals can affect flight tracking displays and in extreme cases affect the actual operation of the aircraft. There are multiple ways that interference can affect GPS, from benign interference to nefarious spoofing. Let’s take a look at each of these and find out more about our new Flightradar24 GPS Jamming Map.
Natural interference and technical failures
There are several benign ways that GPS signals can be interrupted which are either natural, or largely outside human control. Natural phenomena such as solar storms can temporarily interrupt or degrade GPS signals. On the flip side, GPS equipment, like any technology, is susceptible to its own failures. Such causes are expected and planned for in commercial aviation, and represent little risk to flight safety.
GPS Jamming
Slightly more serious is GPS jamming. GPS jamming involves saturating GPS receivers with unknown signals to render the receiver unusable, essentially degrading everyone’s ability to effectively use GPS for navigational purposes.
It is important to note that GPS jamming can happen accidentally, especially if the GPS receiver providing false information is located close to a higher power transmitter of some other kind. Increasingly however, we are seeing it caused deliberately by illegal devices used in vehicles and in homes. Simple online searches reveal numerous tutorials for creating such devices at a low cost. Whilst GPS jamming is illegal in some countries such as the US and UK, it is not regulated in many other areas.
Where possible, we track flights experiencing GPS jamming via a technique called Multilateration, or ‘MLAT‘. The example below shows aircraft over the Black Sea off the northern coast of Turkey being tracked via MLAT due to unreliable GPS and ADS-B signals in the area.
GPS Spoofing
GPS spoofing consists of transmitting a look-alike signal that GPS receivers will decode to place an aircraft at an incorrect position and/or time. GPS Spoofing is a 100% deliberate action. Spoofing can only be caused by purpose-built devices which have their origins in military operations, or can be built by individuals with nefarious intent.
What does GPS Spoofing look like on Flightradar24?
In short, spoofing will result in the aircraft appearing in places it is not. Flightradar24 relies on position updates from the aircraft to plot its course on the map. When the aircraft stops sending position updates, we will estimate the course of the aircraft toward its intended destination. Because this often happens to aircraft operating over the Black Sea, estimated positions can take the aircraft through areas where they are not in fact flying. The example below shows a flight that stopped broadcasting its position and was estimated on a great circle path. Once the aircraft is no longer subject to GPS jamming, it will often resume sending its position and be shown correctly on the Flightradar24 map. For certain aircraft, the effects of GPS jamming may be visible long after the flight is no longer subject to jamming. This is due to the backup navigation systems providing positions for the remainder of the flight. Generally, once the aircraft has been shut down and restarts, positions will be shown once again based on GPS data.
Whilst the GPS signals used by aircraft can be spoofed, it would take a sizable and advanced effort to both spoof the signal and negatively affect the flight. Aircraft cross reference position information with other data sources to verify its accuracy. GPS signals in commercial aviation tend to be used together with the Wide Area Augmentation System WAAS for general navigation and the Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) during precision approaches to airports. At a very basic level, crews can also revert to inertia-based navigation systems to determine and verify their positions.
Where are the world’s GPS interference hotspots?
Based on the data we receive from aircraft, the focus of jamming signals has so far been most prevalent in the area around the Black Sea. Spoofing has been most common in areas of Iraq, around Ukraine and Russia, and most recently the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Our new GPS Jamming map clearly visualises current and historic patterns in GPS interference around the world. Visit our GPS jamming map for the latest data.
Can GPS Jamming or Spoofing affect a commercial passenger aircraft?
Airlines and flight crews are aware of GPS jamming and spoofing and are trained to use backup instrumentation when they experience it, ensuring the safe operation and completion of flights. Commercial flight crews are trained in advanced risk management, meaning that even if a false GPS signal creates a warning in the flight deck, the crew will still respond in a calm and methodical manner, diagnosing the problem and acting appropriately.
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-300x148.jpg)
![An example full flight summary response from the Flightradar24 API: { "data": [ { "fr24_id": "0987654321", "flight": "SK1415", "callsign": "SAS1415", "operated_as": "SAS", "painted_as": "SAS", "type": "A20N", "reg": "SE-DOY", "orig_icao": "ESSA", "orig_iata": "ARN", "datetime_takeoff": "2023-01-27T05:15:22", "runway_takeoff": "12R", "dest_icao": "EKCH", "dest_iata": "CPH", "dest_icao_actual": "EPWA", "dest_iata_actual": "WAW", "datetime_landed": "2023-01-27T06:15:10", "runway_landed": "27L", "flight_time": 3600, "actual_distance": 1007.74, "circle_distance": 6245, "category": "Passenger", "hex": "4A91F9", "first_seen": "2023-01-27T05:06:22", "last_seen": "2023-01-27T06:18:10", "flight_ended": "true" } ] }](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Flight-summary-API-cover-768x378.jpg)
