[NYP] Russia has hampered American military operations in Syria by jamming some of its drones after several suspected chemical weapons attacks on civilians, according to a report.Four US officials told NBC News that Moscow was concerned that the US would retaliate for the attacks in rebel-held eastern Ghouta, so it began jamming the GPS systems of some smaller drones.
Todd Humphreys, chief of the Radionavigation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, said blocking or scrambling a drone’s reception of signals from GPS satellites can be quite simple.
"GPS receivers in most drones can be fairly easily jammed," said Humphreys, who warned that jammed drones may malfunction aand even crash.
"At the very least it could cause some serious confusion" for the drone operator if the unmanned aircraft reports an incorrect position or is lost, he told NBC News.
American analysts first noticed the Russian military jamming drones in eastern Ukraine after the invasion of Crimea four years ago, Humphreys said.
The jammers "had a pretty significant impact" on UN surveillance drones, which were grounded for days after gathering intelligence from the air.