U.S. government has been mum about problems until now…
“It very purposeful interference. It connected with cartel activity,” said Christopher Erickson, chief of PNT and spectrum, U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration. “[It involves] moving things across the border. It is very much not ambient interference.”
While it has been known for years that cartels have the finances and ability to disrupt GPS along the southern border, the government has been tight-lipped about any interference there, said Dana Goward, Resilient Navigation & Timing Foundation president.
“We know, from long ago, that the cartels disrupt GPS on the southern border. Primarily due to smuggling and to distract and delay Border Patrol drones, he said. “We have heard that there is active interference right now in a number of locations. But despite numerous inquiries to different government offices, no is telling us—or is willing to tell us—anything.”
Location Business News reached out to the U.S. Border Patrol’s public affairs office, but did not receive information at our deadline.
In other ION GNSS 2025 news, Erickson said that the troubled GPS OCX ground control program, while delivered in July by contractor RTX RTX 1.53%↑ to the U.S. Space Force’s Mission Delta 31, still will go through a series of stringent tests that will run through next year. “We are in the process of vetting all of the work the contractors have done. We are going line-by-line, page-by-page,” he said. “Once the whole system has been transferred to the ground system—we will have one final round of tests. Expect next year to hear from us about the timelines for the process.”
