Cliff Notes
- Ship tracking around Iran’s Tombak port shows vessels appearing to be arranged in a circle on land, indicating possible GPS interference rather than actual positioning.
- GPS jamming and spoofing, techniques increasingly used in modern warfare, hinder accurate navigation and could obscure military targets.
- Recent reports suggest mass GPS interference has been affecting nearly 1,000 ships in the Gulf since the start of the Israel-Iran conflict.
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A quick look at ship tracking around the Iranian port of Tombak shows something quite odd.
Dozens of vessels appear to be all arranged in a circle… on land. And it’s a similar story a little way along the coast.
So what’s going on?
For obvious reasons, these ships probably aren’t all on land in a neat circle, but something is interfering with the AIS tracking signals they submit that is making it look like they are.
This appears to be the shadowy practice of GPS interference – an issue that has rocketed in recent years as warfare changes.
What is GPS jamming?
There are two main types of GPS interference – “jamming” and “spoofing”.
Jamming overwhelms navigation systems and stops them working properly, while spoofing is more serious and involves sending false GPS signals that make planes and ships look hundreds of miles away from where they actually are.
Why does GPS jamming happen?
Increasingly GPS interference is being used as part of air defence systems to try and stop missiles and drones from reaching their intended targets.
Some militaries also seek to obscure the location of navy vessels or other potential targets by interfering with GPS signals.
If it is indeed GPS jamming in this area, it’s not certain who is behind it.
However there has been mass interference since the start of the conflict between Israel and Iran, affecting nearly 1,000 ships in the Gulf, shipping analysis firm Windward said earlier this month.