GPS jamming is intentional radio interference that blocks or overwhelms legitimate satellite navigation signals. Because GPS signals arrive at Earth very weakly, even modest nearby transmitters can prevent a receiver from locking onto them. The result is not usually a fake location, but a loss of reliable position, navigation, and time data.
In cyber security and defense planning, GPS jamming matters because many systems depend on PNT data: drones, vehicles, ships, telecom networks, and critical infrastructure timing. Attackers may use it to disrupt movement, confuse autonomous systems, or force operators into degraded modes. Defenders look for abrupt signal loss, spectrum anomalies, and inconsistent receiver behavior, then switch to backups such as inertial navigation, maps, terrestrial references, or protected antennas. Jamming is different from spoofing: jamming denies the signal, while spoofing feeds false data.