A jet lands at sunset. Photo: Max Pixel.

Spirent Communications announced a solution that enables the civil aviation industry to evaluate the growing threat of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference, jamming and spoofing.  The company developed its new GSS200D interference detector as part of Spirent’s partnership with Nottingham Scientific.

As skies and airports become more congested, there is increasing pressure on airports to be safely accessible at all times. According to Spirent, this cannot be achieved by relying solely on non-precision approaches with high minimums or on expensive and rigid ground-based infrastructure such as Instrument Landing Systems (ILS).

Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) and instrument approach procedures based on Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS), such as Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LPV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP), provide air traffic management with cost-effective alternatives while providing equivalent operational performance, according to the company.

For example, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) launched the LPV-200 service in Europe that enables aircraft approaches without the need for visual contact with the ground until a height of only 200 feet above the runway.  This service improves accessibility, sustainability, efficiency and safety of the landing, especially in bad weather conditions. Spirent’s new GSS200D solution monitors the radio bands used by EGNOS, as well as other GNSS augmentation systems such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) or the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, to ensure awareness of interference that could compromise positioning information.