How GPS interference is disrupting the Middle East
The screen of a GPS attached to the dashboard of a vehicle as residents of Dubai face GPS disruptions on March 9, 2026, in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates decried that it was being targeted “in a very unwarranted manner” in the war, stressing it would “not partake in any attacks against Iran”, which has lashed out at Gulf countries seen as US allies. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
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Hours after the first salvos of the U.S. and Israel’s “pre-emptive” strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, the data analytics firm Kpler observed vessels in the Persian Gulf making unusual maneuvers, with location data from ships in the Gulf showing vessels traveling over land and making sharp turns in polygonal paths.
Since the start of the war, similar disruptions to location-based services have surged across the Middle East, affecting mariners, aircraft, and motorists alike.
These disruptions have also exposed key vulnerabilities of the GPS, an American-made system now synonymous with satellite navigation.
For years, firms like Kpler have flagged thousands of instances of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf manipulating onboard Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals — the system used to track vessels in transit — to evade sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Known as spoofing, this manipulation of location signals allows vessels to obscure their movements, and has long been a tool of “covert” operations, according to Ana Subasic, a trade risk analyst from Kpler.
But since the start of hostilities in the Middle East, location spoofing in the Persian Gulf has surged dramatically. Within the first 24 hours of the conflict, maritime intelligence firm Windward logged over 1,100 different vessels across the Gulf experiencing AIS interference, followed by a 55% increase a week later.
Dire straits
“There are a lot of entities that are trying to jam GPS — or other satellite navigation signals — in the region with various reasons for doing so,” said Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, or CSIS, in an email to CNBC.
According to Swope, the added interference with satellite navigation signals across the region likely stems from Gulf states looking to protect against drone and missile strikes on critical infrastructure by “confusing” the onboard navigational systems of adversarial drones and missiles.
Such forms of electronic interference are increasingly being deployed as defensive countermeasures in modern warfare — similar disruptions followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a CSIS report.
But this interference has also disrupted various aspects of everyday life.
Interference has caused aircraft to appear having traveled in erratic, wave-like patterns; on land, malfunctioning GPS systems have also caused food delivery riders to appear off the coast of Dubai.
The persistent jamming and spoofing activity in the region also poses key public safety concerns,…
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