Pilots warned of GPS interference during US Navy test

Pilots' navigational equipment may be effected up to altitudes of 12,000 metres. Photo / Kevin Bluer, Unsplash

Pilots have been warned to expect GPS problems this week in locations across America.

In an age when the ability to read a map seems a lost skill and many of us experience a cold sweat at the prospect of finding our way home without Google maps, the idea that GPS might be switched off at a whim is a terrifying prospect.

However the FAA has issued a flight advisory to pilots over the Florida coast, and warned both north and south Carolinas to expect GPS outages this week as a result of a Navy test.

The NOTAM issued to all airmen warns that instruments using Global Positioning System will be "unreliable or unavailable" at points.

Carrier Stike Group Four: FAA map showing the area covered by this week's tests. Photo / Supplied

Over this week and next the Department of Defense has registered test sites for GPS jamming near Jacksonville, at Fort Bragg and Charleston Airforce Base.

The testing window began last Friday 16 and finishes on Friday 31, and pilots have been told to report any interference via the FAA the GPS Anomaly Reporting Form.

The FAA warned pilots that they could be affected by the tests between altitudes of 15 and 12,000 metres.

The military technology used to misguide and disorient enemies, can be equally confusing to civilian aircraft. According to USA Today, GPS jammers can cause interference for devices not just ones used for navigation. Quoting the Defense research website SearchSecurity GPS jammers are known to "disrupt all communications within a broad frequency range."

Originally developed by the American military, the Global Positioning System relies on pinpointing a location using a network of satellites.

It was made available to the public in 1983, after the Korean Airline's flight KAL 007 was shot down by accident flying over Soviet airspace.

GPS is now used in many civilian technologies such as phones and personal navigation software, but is now also a vital part of commercial shipping and transport networks.