GPS Jamming Over Taipei

Who, What, When, Where, Why?

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25 April 2023

GPS Jamming Over Taipei

Who, What, When, Where, Why?

By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德

TAIPEI - Someone has stumbled upon something disconcerting. If anyone has an expert opinion, please add your thoughts to the comment section.

Though there is always jamming, as the maps of Taiwan and China indicate, they are normally low (green) jamming caused by a variety of defense radars and electronic warfare (EW) systems that do not disrupt airliners, per se.

Those who have institutional memory of such things will remember North Korea used GPS jammers to disrupt South Korean civilian airliners in 2016. I guess just for fun.

So jamming is no joke…it is like a ghost that irradiates the air around you for the purposes of blinding you during an attack.

Those who are nerds can simply check out legendary John Wiseman’s superb GPS Jammer World Map.

What Erik Kannike discovered then posted on his Twitter account is that high level (red) jamming is occurring over Taipei City and the area in general, including Taoyuan International Airport. Though this has happened before, it has not been at this level of intensity and persistence.

Check out Erik Kannike on his Twitter account and his other outlets.

The question is whether China is conducting GPS jamming or Taiwan has ramped up its EW defenses due to recent Chinese military exercises.

Jamming comes in various confusing terms: electronic countermeasure (ECM), electronic counter-counter measures (ECCM), and basically anything to do with high-amp electromagnetic energy.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported on the 26th that some netizens tweeted that they saw GPS interference in the northern airspace of Taiwan. The National Communications Commission (NCC) said it received a complaint from the Taoyuan Air Station Tower of the Civil Aviation Administration on the 22nd.

NCC sent a radio detection vehicle to search. There was indeed intermittent interference, which was caused by the overflow interference of Taiwan's public authorities in the adjacent frequency band. It has been reminded that the relevant regulations should be complied.

However, this level of interference is unusual for Taiwan. On Kannike’s 24 April 2023 post with the below illustrations: “Very concerning - first time ever I have seen GPS jamming happening over Taiwan. Has been going on for 3 straight days now [since 21.04.23].”

If Wiseman’s GPS Jammer World Map is accurate, the only areas with Red are areas of combat, such as Ukraine and Israel (see the last map at the bottom).

Wiseman stated on the 25th: “This is the 4th consecutive day of significant GNSS/GPS interference affecting some aircraft in Taiwan. Definitely unusual for this region, but it remains extremely localized. There’s been some apparent jamming or interference around Taiwan before but it’s been infrequent and less intense and persistent than what’s happening now.”

The timing of the Chinese military exercises during this same time period seems logical that Taiwan would conduct aggressive EW programs.

GNSS = Global Navigation Satellite System.

Level of GPS interference:

Below is the only Red on the current map and for obvious reasons: