Navy research prompts FAA to issue GPS alert

What the Navy describes as routine research at a weapons station in southern California has prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue an alert to civilian aviators, advising that navigation by GPS might be affected Thursday and four other days in June.

“I’m told this will have minimal impact,” FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said in an email Tuesday.

He added that the advisory relates to GPS interference testing. If a pilot flying on GPS starts to go off course, air traffic controllers will notice the divergence and advise the pilot to confirm position through other forms of navigation, such as a compass, Kenitzer said.

One observer familiar with FAA notices and military operations said Tuesday the advisory’s altitude range of 40,000 feet over such a widespread area goes beyond normal scope. The advisory extends over the Pacific Ocean and as far north as Oregon.

Although the Navy wouldn’t confirm it, the test appears to be aimed at assessing if military aircraft operations can weather a GPS attack by an adversary, according to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A spokeswoman at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California, 150 miles west of Las Vegas, said the FAA flight advisory “was issued in support of routine research, development, and test and evaluation efforts conducted at China Lake.”

“We regularly coordinate with the FAA through a standardized national process for these types of tests, which have been conducted here for more than 25 years,” the spokeswoman, Deidre Patin, wrote in an email response.

The FAA flight advisory, issued Saturday, said above-ground GPS could be affected Thursday as well as June 21, 23, 28, and 30. The GPS interference testing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on those days.

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2