Navigating the future without GPS due to the war

An explosion causing conflicts and disruptions of GPS signals, crucial for aviation and marine transportation, raises questions about alternative solutions amid the current dependence on satellite navigation systems.

“It’s almost like a drug that we need to try to wean ourselves off of,” says AFP’s 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 disruption of satellite signals targeting opposing armies, significantly affecting the navigation of aircraft, ships, and smartphones of the population.

These disruptions are currently taking place in the Russo-Ukrainian zone, the Gulf of Finland, the Middle East, and mainly around Myanmar, as shown on real-time interactive jamming maps online.

The “jamming” involves distorting data to complicate GPS signal reception, while “spoofing” involves diverting the signal to display an incorrect position.

Commercial transportation can continue to operate, but it is sometimes heavily disrupted. According to Antoine Godier, a Boeing 777 captain interviewed by AFP, “There will not be a more precise navigation system. However, we must continue to have alternative systems because these are not subject to interference.”

– What are the alternatives?

-Modernized GPS:

These tools, initially for military use before recently being allowed for commercial use, have antennas that can identify manipulation attempts, unlike traditional receivers.

However, they are disadvantageous as they are bulkier, heavier, and more expensive, pointed out by Ramsey Faragher.

On a ship, bulky and energy-consuming equipment is not a problem. The real issue is convincing operators to buy more expensive equipment,” specifies AFP’s Paul Groves, a professor of location and navigation at University College London.

-Inertial navigation

This old guidance method is available to aircraft, enabling autonomous navigation through a gyroscope measuring the speed, direction, and location of the craft.

Accompanied by a radio system relying on ground beacons, the aircraft can continue flying without GPS, according to Antoine Godier, though this system is less reliable. Inertial navigation becomes less precise over time.

Additionally, Ramsey Faragher warns that modern radars and gyroscopes are often connected to GPS, especially in the maritime sector, rendering their relay capabilities inoperative.

-Low Earth orbit satellites:

Like the Starlink satellite constellations for internet, the use of low Earth orbit satellites is seen by some experts as a serious option.

According to Paul Groves, it would be harder to disrupt signals due to the closer proximity of the signal compared to GPS satellites, which are much farther away from Earth.

<p"The operation of low-orbit systems is expensive. The question is whether there is a viable economic model. For now, I would say it's still unknown," says Mr. Groves.

-Ground-based technologies

Other mechanisms are mentioned by experts, such as gravitational navigation, mainly used for submarines, which utilize the Earth’s topology for guidance and are currently being worked on by companies.

Celestial navigation is also cited, with a “modern version” using cameras pointed at the sky equipped with computer software, as stated by Ramsey Faragher.

– Can we really do without GPS?

Without a GPS system, “we would probably need to combine four or five different technologies, making the system much more expensive, bulky, and energy-intensive,” believes Mr. Faragher.

The horizon for implementation would be years, as measuring the implications of this system implementation and being able to demonstrate the dysfunctions it will generate, establish new procedures among crews, is anything but trivial,” according to pilot Antoine Godier.