Wednesday, September 18, 2024

GPS jamming reported in Gelendzhik Bay amid suspected movement of Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels from Novorossiysk



From The Insider

GPS signals in the waters near Gelendzhik, a town in southern Russia, have unexpectedly started being jammed at the entrance to Gelendzhik Bay.
The disruption was first noticed due to unusual ship movements tracked by MarineTraffic, a website monitoring maritime routes via the AIS system.
According to the site’s data, several ships began circling near the bay’s entrance — a pattern observed by open source intelligence (OSINT) analyst H.I. Sutton.
 
 
The analyst suggests that the unusual ship movements are likely due to the activation of GPS signal jamming in the area.
Sutton specifically pointed to buoy number 133 as the center of the disruption.
After examining navigation charts, The Insider confirmed that the ships' circular paths were indeed around this buoy, which is primarily used as a dumping ground for dredging material and has no other function — although it could be equipped with jamming devices.


Screenshot: The Insider

H.I. Sutton had earlier reported, using satellite imagery, that Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels had been moved from the port of Novorossiysk to an unknown location.
Based on the vessels' draft (13–20 feet) and the depth of the waters in Gelendzhik Bay (30–43 feet, 56 feet at the entrance), The Insider used navigational charts to confirm that these ships could be anchored in the bay after having departed Novorossiysk.

Sutton speculated that the ships may have been moved due to concerns that Kyiv may receive approval to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets located within internationally recognized Russian territory.
Although the distance from both Novorossiysk and Gelendzhik Bay to the frontlines exceeds the range of the Storm Shadow missiles that have been delivered to Ukraine (300 kilometers, or 186 miles), the missiles could potentially be launched from fighter jets over the Black Sea.
The Russian military may be taking precautions, as aircraft could theoretically pass through Ukrainian, Romanian, or Bulgarian airspace, enter neutral waters, and launch missiles from positions south of Crimea.
Gelendzhik, with its smaller and more sheltered port, may offer better defensive capabilities than the busier port of Novorossiysk.



The ships may also have been relocated to Gelendzhik Bay for protection against maritime drones — which could explain the installation of jamming equipment at the bay’s entrance.

In late July, Bellingcat reported that Russia has sped up its construction of a shelter for the Black Sea Fleet in Abkhazia — a Russian-backed separatist region of Georgia.
The new Russian naval base, described by regional authorities as a “permanent place of deployment” for elements of the Black Sea Fleet, is being built in the seaside town of Ochamchire, just 30 kilometers from Abkhazia’s border with Georgia.

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From Hackaday by AI Williams

We always think of [Scott Manley] as someone who knows a lot about rockets.
So, if you think about it, it isn’t surprising he’s talking about GPS — after all, the system uses satellites. GPS is used in everything these days, and other forms of navigation are starting to fall by the wayside.
However, the problem is that the system is vulnerable to jamming and spoofing.
This is especially important if you fear GPS allowing missiles or drones to strike precise targets.
But there are also plenty of opportunities for malicious acts.
For example, drone light shows may be subject to GPS attacks from rival companies, and you can easily imagine worse.
[Scott] talks about the issues around GPS spoofing in the video, which you can see below.

Since GPS satellites are distant, blocking the signal is almost too easy, sometimes happening inadvertently.
GPS has technology to operate in the face of noise and interference, but there’s no way to prevent it entirely.
Spoofing — where you produce false GPS coordinates — is much more difficult.



Of course, jamming or spoofing GPS is highly illegal, and it is easy to locate jammers, so most people doing this will be state actors and military units.
Don’t try this at home.
But it does happen, and [Scott] mentions how warnings appear to alert pilots of areas where GPS may be unreliable due to jamming and spoofing.

There are anti-jamming countermeasures you can employ.
But things like this tend to be leapfrog situations, where jammers will overcome the countermeasures only to face better countermeasures they’ll have to overcome again later.

As you might expect, this isn’t a how-to video, but just talks about the ideas behind jamming and spoofing along with the potential countermeasures.
While you usually buy a module to do GPS, you can roll your own.
If you want a detailed explainer, we got you.
 
Links :

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