The US government is conducting a series of secret tests on the west coast that could disrupt GPS signals for hundreds of miles.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a notice of flight, lasting six days, for possible interference with the GPS system and instrumentation.
Tests may make GPS signals unreliable or not available for 40.000 feet altitude. The global positioning system, therefore, could be broken for 253 nautical miles, including most of southern California and Nevada. The NOTAM (flight notice, "NOtice To AirMen") warns "all aircraft for possible signal loss due to tests that could also affect flight stability".
The test area is part of the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, in the western Mojave desert: the new weapon prototypes are tested in the base.
There are no other details on the tests that will take place tomorrow and then the next 21, 23, 28 and 30 June. Changes to the tests will be published at least with 24 hours in advance.
