The EU is investing €27.5 million to secure Galileo against Russian jamming, with critical upgrades to the center in Noordwijk.
The European Union is investing heavily in the technical reinforcement of its Galileo geolocation system. In response to the increasing GPS jamming attributed to Russia, Brussels is modernizing its Galileo Reference Center (GRC) in the Netherlands with a budget of 27.5 million euros. The contract includes improvements in real-time monitoring, anti-spoofing systems, satellite emergency alerts and enhanced security against cyberattacks. This modernization is part of a broader plan to upgrade Galileo’s ground and space segment, as GNSS disruptions intensify around the Baltic and Northern European areas, affecting civil and military flights. The objective is to gain strategic autonomy, limit dependence on American GPS and ensure the reliability of European navigation.
A technological response to Russian jamming
The intensification of GPS jamming observed since 2022, particularly in conflict zones or near Russian borders, constitutes a direct threat to civil navigation and European military operations. In March 2024, a 63-hour disruption affected more than 1,600 commercial flights in Europe, causing diversions and signal losses on busy air corridors, particularly between Finland, Latvia and Poland. These attacks are part of an electronic warfare strategy, where the saturation of GNSS signals creates unreliable navigation zones.
Galileo signals, like those of GPS or GLONASS, are weak signals (approximately -130 dBm on reception) and easily overridden by a terrestrial jammer emitting at a few watts. Military equipment, but also civilian equipment (planes, ships, connected cars), become vulnerable as soon as the radioelectric environment is destabilized. The use of spoofing technologies, which imitate valid GNSS signals, adds a critical risk of position misinformation, often undetectable by conventional users.
The reinforcement of the Noordwijk center, which monitors and analyzes the quality of Galileo signals, is part of this dynamic of technical resilience. It will move from post-processed control to real-time monitoring, making it possible to identify disruptions and alert users more quickly. Currently, these delays can be as long as several hours; the aim is to reduce this time to a few minutes, a critical point in the event of conflict or an aviation crisis.
Towards European autonomy in satellite positioning
Galileo differs from other GNSS systems in that it is governed by civilians. It currently comprises 27 operational satellites in medium earth orbit (MEO) at an altitude of 23,222 km, offering a horizontal accuracy of 20 cm. The system aims to reduce dependence on the American GPS (managed by the US Air Force) and the Russian GLONASS, in a context where the stakes of technological sovereignty are increasing.
In parallel with the Dutch center, the Galileo ground segment is being ramped up. In 2024, key sites were reinforced in Belgium, the Indian Ocean (Reunion Island) and Norway, with 11 new stations planned for 2025. The GNSS Service Center in Madrid also has a €35 million contract to modernize its infrastructure.
In terms of space, 8 new Galileo satellites will be launched between 2024 and 2026, reinforcing the robustness of the signal and the availability of the service. The development of the second generation of Galileo (G2G) is already underway: enhanced geolocation capacity, increased resistance to interference, natively authenticated signals, and better compatibility with IoT applications. This second generation should begin in-orbit testing by 2026, with a gradual commissioning.
Strategic consequences and geopolitical issues
The decision to prioritize European GNSS independence reflects a change in strategic approach. EU Member States now understand that control of critical infrastructures such as geolocation is a vector of decision-making autonomy, particularly in the event of a NATO crisis or transatlantic breakdown.
Russian interference demonstrates that GNSS is a field of hybrid confrontation, where civilian technology becomes a tactical target. A positioning failure can interrupt logistics chains, disrupt automated rail systems, compromise civilian flight plans, or alter combat data on the ground. In 2023, several reports from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) noted an increase of nearly 200% in GNSS incidents in Eastern Europe.
The strengthening of Galileo therefore makes it possible to relocate diagnostic and response capacity in Europe, without waiting for a response from the United States or third-party providers. The addition of a signal authentication service (OSNMA) also addresses the growing risks of spoofing, particularly in international ports and airports.
Finally, the integration of a satellite-based emergency alert service, based on the Japanese QZSS Disaster Warning System, will provide a notification capability in the event of an earthquake, tsunami or chemical attack, without depending on ground infrastructure. This capability is essential to ensure the resilience of populations in risk areas.
Industrial prospects and economic challenges
The strengthening of the Galileo system also benefits the European space and digital industry. The 27.5 million euro contract awarded to GMV, a Spanish company specializing in GNSS control systems, is part of a global market estimated at more than 300 billion euros in 2024 (according to the GSA Market Report). The GNSS services sector alone represents 10% of Europe’s digital GDP, with applications in transportation, logistics, drones, precision agriculture and autonomous mobility.
Each technological development of Galileo also promotes innovation in downstream sectors: multi-band GNSS sensors, anti-spoofing modules, cloud-SDR solutions, etc. In the medium term, this dynamic could reduce the market share of US GPS modules in European civilian equipment, in favor of a more local value chain.
The deployment of Galileo G2G, its increasing interoperability with BeiDou and GPS III, and the public investments planned in the European Digital Green Deal reinforce this industrial trajectory. The increased competence of European GNSS players could also play a role in the recovery of technological sovereignty in a context of growing geopolitical instability.
War Wings Daily is an independant magazine.