All missions to Myanmar completed as planned: IAF

Indian Air Force pilots flying relief material to earthquake-hit Myanmar faced a calculated cyber attack that included mismatch of altitude, several areas getting blanked out and a slowing down of the communication system when flying over the country.

The IAF, reacting to social media posts about the incident and reports of spoofing of global positioning systems, said on X: “IAF crew are well capable to handle such unavailability (of GPS and navigation aids), while ensuring safety of flight and achievement of the designated task or mission. Accordingly, every mission was achieved as planned.”

The possibility of degraded GPS availability was published by Mandalay International airport, Myanmar, in notice to airmen (called NOTAM in aviation parlance). “ All due precautions were put in place to cater for such conditions,” the IAF said.

After an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale hit Myanmar on March 28, India launched Operation Brahma for swift humanitarian aid. The IAF flights, using US made planes, the C130-J and the C-17, entering Myanmar encountered a real test of airpower, cyber preparedness and  ‘gray zone’ activities, suspected to have been carried out by China-backed rebels who control large parts of Myanmar.

The attack included a slowed down communication systems, anomalies in navigation, it was like a calculated electronic interference that could be classified as ‘hostile’.

Some IAF flights faced a mismatch in altitude, terrain manipulation that can be called ‘data corruption’.

Sources confirmed that the IAF planes – the C130J and the C-17 — used for relief operations had an ample redundancy for communication and navigation, including a satellite communication system, called ‘SATCOM’ in aviation parlance .

IAF pilots switched to a protocol called EMCON (Emission Control) that restricts the use of electronic communications and radar systems to minimize the risk of detection by an adversary.

Also to avoid being GPS spoofing, the IAF pilots shifted to inertial navigation system (INS). The INS is a back up and used when a satellite breach disrupts the GPS. The INS puts the plane back on its correct course.

Civilian pilots have been reporting such GPS spoofing when flying over Myanmar and Pakistan.

India