An escalating standoff between the United States and Venezuela has led both countries’ militaries to jam satellite navigation signals in the Caribbean to guard against a potential attack, data show, putting air and sea traffic in the region at greater risk of a collision or accident.
At least some of the U.S. warships that have deployed to the Caribbean in recent months have been jamming GPS signals in their vicinity, according to an analysis of data provided by Stanford University and a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
The Trump administration says the warships, which include the Navy’s most modern aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, are targeting drug trafficking to the United States orchestrated by the Venezuelan government.
In response to U.S. military pressure, the armed forces of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela have jammed the GPS signals around the country’s critical infrastructure, including military bases, oil refineries and power plants, according to an analysis by Spire Global, a satellite data firm.
Signals experts said both militaries appeared to be trying to protect assets against attacks by drones and precision munitions, which can be guided by GPS or similar positioning systems.
“It is defensive in nature,” said Logan Scott, a radio frequency expert who helped build the world’s first digital GPS receivers in the 1980s, referring to the sources of jamming shown in the data. “You’ve got a military emplacement and you want to keep drones, and whatnot, from getting to it.”
The similar tactics employed by the two adversaries, he added, are amplifying the range and intensity of the jamming. “The only difference is which side of the line you’re on,” Mr. Scott said.
These military tactics have come at the cost of disrupting civilian transport that relies on GPS.
The prolonged spike in GPS interference in the Caribbean is one of the starkest examples of the regional effect of President Trump’s pressure campaign against Mr. Maduro.
That conflict, which Mr. Trump has justified by turns as a war on drugs and a quest for Venezuelan oil, is degrading crucial communication technologies that guide devices including cellphones and ship navigation systems. The region’s militarization is starting to affect civilian life in ways that have become commonplace in war zones such as Russia, Ukraine and parts of the Middle East.
“Whether jamming is due to the U.S. or Venezuelan forces, it really doesn’t matter: You don’t want an aircraft going in there,” said Gen. Willie Shelton, the former head of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Command.
In response to questions, the U.S. Southern Command, the military branch overseeing the Caribbean deployment, said through a spokesman that “we do not comment on speculative reporting or unverified premises.”
“Our U.S. naval forces continue to conduct operations in international waters following international law, focusing on counternarcotics efforts with regional partners,” the spokesman added.
Venezuela’s government did not respond to a request for comment sent to the country’s Communications Ministry.
The spread of GPS and other satellite navigation systems into practically every corner of the global economy has made the positioning technology increasingly vulnerable to manipulation by governments, criminal groups and individuals seeking to hide sensitive locations and confuse opponents.
The most common type of GPS interference is created by devices called jammers, which essentially broadcast noise that drowns out the signal and makes it difficult to calculate position and time.
The jammers range from hand-held devices to complex systems located on aircraft and warships. Their sophistication and availability have increased drastically since the start of the war in Ukraine, where both sides extensively interfere with satellite signals to defend themselves against drones and missiles.
The increase of GPS jamming in Venezuela was initially reported by Bloomberg News.
At least one in five flights in the Caribbean has experienced problems with GPS navigation since early September, according to data provided by Stanford’s GPS Lab.
One airplane, a JetBlue flight to New York from Curaçao, reported a near collision with a U.S. military plane soon after takeoff on Dec. 12. The JetBlue pilot told air traffic control that the military plane had not been reporting its position while in their flight path.
Although that hazard does not appear to have been caused directly by GPS jamming, it has highlighted the spillover effects of the largest U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean since the Cuban missile crisis.
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The Federal Aviation Administration on Nov. 18 issued a warning to pilots flying to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico, “due to an increase in state aircraft operations.”
The F.A.A. did not provide additional details, but the wording includes military planes, and the island has hosted the Ford aircraft carrier and the accompanying vessels. The F.A.A. did not respond to a request for comment.
GPS jamming has also increased hazards for commercial shipping.
These risks have grown amid a broader militarization of the Caribbean. Armed U.S. law enforcement officers this month seized a tanker in international waters between Grenada and Trinidad that was carrying Venezuelan oil. The Venezuelan Navy responded this week by adding gunboat escorts to tankers carrying the country’s crude oil to Asian markets.
On Nov. 15, a tanker leaving Venezuela with a cargo of oil told the U.S. Coast Guard that it had lost the use of its GPS transmitters for four hours “and believed they were being jammed,” said a Coast Guard report citing the tanker crew’s message.
A few weeks later, a cruise ship passing Aruba suddenly “started getting various sensor alarms” and had to resort to navigating by using charts and landmarks for three hours, according to the Coast Guard’s report.
A New York Times Times analysis of air traffic control communications showed that at least five commercial aircraft lost GPS services while flying near Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation near Venezuela, on a single day, Dec. 10.
Trinidad and Tobago, a close U.S. ally, has hosted some U.S. warships and equipment in recent months, coinciding with a major increase in GPS jamming in the country’s waters, according to Stanford and Spire’s data.
“We just lost our GPS,” a pilot of a flight operated by Copa Airlines, which is based in Panama, said over the radio on the morning of Dec. 10. He asked an air traffic controller if the plane was still visible on radar screens.
“Sir, do you still have us on radar contact?” the pilot asked.
Copa is “taking all the necessary precautions and is in close and frequent contact with all the relevant aviation authorities,” the company’s chief executive, Pedro Heilbron, said in an emailed response to questions. He declined to comment further.
A pilot of a different commercial flight that day, operated by Caribbean Airlines, bluntly told an air traffic controller that his navigation systems were being jammed, before asking to be guided into Trinidad.
The biggest effect of GPS jamming has been felt by Venezuelan residents. The F.A.A. in late November issued a strongly worded warning to all aircraft operating in the country’s main airport, Maiquetia, citing the “worsening security situation and increased military activity.”
A week later, Mr. Trump said the airlines should consider “the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety.”
Mr. Trump does not have authority over Venezuelan airspace. The combination of his threat, the F.A.A. warning and the GPS jamming reported by pilots, however, has led most foreign airlines to cancel flights to the country.
The cancellations have contributed to the growing sense of siege gripping the country amid Mr. Trump’s brinkmanship with Mr. Maduro.
Many Venezuelan families on both sides of the political divide have been unable to reunite for the Christmas holiday. Many had saved for months, or even years, for their trips in a country where the majority live in poverty.
“I don’t know who to blame,” said Sofía, a small-business owner from the Venezuelan city of Valencia, who says she has been unable to return home after a trip to Spain. “I know that all of us in Venezuela want change, or at least the great majority. But these consequences are being paid by us, the most gullible ones, the ones who don’t have anything to do with politics.”
Sofía’s surname has been withheld to protect her against potential retribution.
“Venezuela is hurting; it’s hurting a lot,” she said.
Eric Schmitt, Karoun Demirjian and Tibisay Romero contributed reporting.
Riley Mellen is a reporter on The Times’s Visual Investigations team, which combines traditional reporting with advanced digital forensics.
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