IAF planes faced GPS spoofing in Myanmar’s airspace while carrying relief materials for quake victims

Indian Air Force planes carrying relief materials to quake victims in Myanmar faced GPS spoofing or GPS interference, raising security concerns.

New Delhi: Indian Air Force’s transport aircraft carrying relief materials to earthquake-hit Myanmar late last month faced “GPS spoofing”, triggering security concerns as pilots were forced to rely on the backup systems, sources in the military establishment said on Sunday.

India sent the first consignment of relief materials to Myanmar on March 29 in a C-130 J aircraft and its pilots reported that the plane’s GPS signal was tampered with when it was in Myanmar’s airspace, the sources told PTI.

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New Delhi sent a total of six military transport aircraft to Myanmar transporting relief materials, field hospitals and rescue teams and a majority of them experienced GPS spoofing, they said.

GPS spoofing is considered to be a form of cyber attack that includes generating false GPS signals. The false signals result in misleading the navigation equipment which creates a significant risk to aircraft.

When the aircraft faced “GPS interference and spoofing”, the pilots immediately activated the backup system called ‘inertial navigation system’, the sources said.

GPS spoofing is used to trick an aircraft into thinking it’s in a different location as it receives false location data, according to experts.

Besides the C-130J Super Hercules, the Indian Air Force also operated C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift transport aircraft to carry relief materials and rescue teams to Myanmar.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian Air Force on the incidents of the GPS spoofing.

Asked if the IAF would probe the incidents, the sources said it is practically impossible to investigate such episodes if they take place in foreign airspace.

“The GPS spoofing must have been carried out by our adversary in the region,” said a source without explaining.

Though it is not immediately clear whether all six aircraft faced GPS spoofing, the sources said the majority of them reported the challenge.

Out of six, five aircraft had landed in Yangon and Nay-Pyi-Daw on March 29-30, while one was sent to Mandalay on April 1.

After the first aircraft experienced GPS “interference” and “spoofing”, the pilots of other aircraft were sensitised about the problem and they were flying to Myanmar expecting such a challenge, the sources said.

GPS spoofing is generally reported in conflict zones. Such incidents have recently been reported in areas bordering Iran.

At times, spoofing results in shifting of GPS position from 50 miles to around several hundred miles, according to the experts.

India had launched ‘Operation Brahma’ to extend assistance to Myanmar after the country was hit by a major earthquake.