Finnish soldiers are using paper maps to the old school, so if the enemy turns off the GPS, they are ready

• Finnish soldiers are returning to the basics (paper map) to train scenarios that GPS cannot select.

• A Finnish military officer told BI that GPS vulnerability is one of the lessons learned from Ukraine.

• The Ukrainian War features a large number of electronic warfare strategies.

A senior officer told Business Insider that Finnish soldiers are training using basic navigation tools (paper maps and compass) to ensure they can operate in an environment where enemy activity means GPS.

Finnish Guard Commander Colonel Matti Honko said an important lesson in Ukraine is that satellite sporting tools known as GPS, or simple GPS, are easily disturbed.

The Ukrainian conflict saw major electronic warfare on both sides of the battlefield. Kiev and Moscow rely on strategies such as signal jamming, GPS spoofing and other remote jamming methods to obfuscate and disable enemy weapons. GPS interference has caused a range of problems with combat systems, from cheap drones to complex guided ammunition.

To ensure ready for future conflicts that GPS cannot choose, Finnish defender Jaegers is using paper maps, such as paper maps commonly found in glove pods a few days before GPS became the norm for cars and personal phones.

“I think everyone recognizes that GP can be tricked and you may not be able to rely on it,” Honko said on the sidelines of last week's lively Saber 25 exercise in southern southern Finland.

The colonel said Finland has not given up on using GPS. Instead, soldiers are being taught not to rely solely on it, and are learning how to check things like making sure the grid reference actually matches the map, because spoofed GPS data can be very out of sync with the real world situation.

Honko said this training is in the Finnish army and may also be conducted within the country's navy and air force. He said the distance between Finland and Russia forced it to train in GPS dangerous situations because of frequent interference, which could be due to air defenses in the nearby city of St. Petersburg.

“I just called it a reminder that it's true,” Huoko said. “You can see it yourself, yes, my GPS doesn't work.”

The electronic warfare challenge is not a unique challenge to the Ukrainian war. In the Middle East, for example, GPS interference has been a conflict between Israel and Iranian agent groups. This is also a problem in the turbulent Red Sea, where the Western Navy spent a year and a half defending the attacks of Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Armies like Finland are closely following evolving electronic warfare practices and plan to test them in combat. And they are not alone either. Defense Industries also ensures that their products are more survivable.

One such example is Saildrone, a U.S. company that serves on untugned surface ships along with a handful of naval units, including the U.S. Navy.

Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins explained to BI in a recent interview that the company has integrated technology into its USV, allowing them to work in environments where GPS and communication technologies are compromised or not murderable. He said some drones from companies operated by the U.S. military in the Middle East have been sailing in the deception areas for months.

Jenkins said he believes this is the future of war.

“I think in real conflict, satellites will be the first thing to do first,” he added. “Everyone needs to figure out how to survive without satellites, GP and communications. For the military, this means not only new technology, but also to ensure that basic skills are retained.

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