Military exercise to jam some GPS signals in Florida

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) says that some GPS signals in Florida over the next few days will be jammed during military training exercises.

The jamming of signals is expected to last several hours on the designated exercise days.

The training is attributed to “Carrier Strike Group 4," which is part of the U.S. Navy.

"GPS testing is scheduled as follows and may result in unreliable or unavailable GPS signal," the FAA said in a flight advisory.

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According to an FAA map, navigation from as low as 50 feet above ground up to Flight Level 400 (around 40,000 feet) could be affected. 

Pilots are encouraged to report anomalies in accordance with the Aeronautical Information Manual paragraphs 1-1-13 and 5-3-3. 

The military exercises are scheduled for the following days and times: 

  • Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Thursday, Jan. 23 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Friday, Jan. 24 from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

According to the Miami Herald, the FAA has not commented on how or if this will affect motorists or hikers using GPS on the ground. However, WINK News reports that the exercises should not affect the navigation systems in your cars or the maps on your cellphones. 

Be mindful during the scheduled times just in case.