NEW DELHI: Indian aircraft deployed to provide rescue and relief supplies to quake-hit Myanmar, under Operation Brahma since March 29, have faced cyber-attacks in the form of “spoofing” of their satellite-based GPS signals.
Sources said it’s difficult to establish the forces behind the GPS spoofing of IAF aircraft in the airspace of Myanmar, where China has made major strategic inroads and non-state militant outfits are active against the country’s regime.
“GPS spoofing, which usually misleads pilots about their location with wrong coordinates, is common in operational areas. The IAF pilots in Myanmar switched over to the backup inertial navigation system (INS), which is very accurate with the latest ring-laser gyroscopes, to complete their missions,” a source told TOI.
Soon after the earthquake hit Myanmar, India had dispatched its first C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft, with 15 tonnes of relief material, from Hindon airbase to Yangon in the early hours of March 29. It was followed by six-seven flights by C-130Js as well as C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft with relief supplies, which included a field military hospital, to Myanmar. GPS spoofing can be extremely dangerous as it steers aircraft off-course which can cause accidents.
