Delhi Blast and GPS Spoofing: A National Security Crisis

Digital Desk

India's capital region has been shaken by a series of coordinated security incidents that suggest a potential terror plot. On November 9-10, 2025, two major events unfolded that have alarmed national security agencies: a car explosion near Delhi's Red Fort and the seizure of nearly 2,900 kilograms of explosives in Faridabad. These incidents are now being investigated in connection with GPS spoofing attacks at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport just days earlier.

The Delhi Airport GPS Spoofing Incident

Between November 6-7, 2025, Delhi Airport experienced a technical crisis that affected over 800 flights. What was initially dismissed as a routine technical glitch turned out to be something far more sinister: GPS spoofing—a cyberattack in which fake satellite signals are transmitted to mislead navigation systems.

What happened to the aircraft: Pilots reported receiving incorrect positioning data, false terrain warnings, and contradictory navigation information. The aircraft's display systems showed runways in places where they didn't exist and failed to display actual runways. Planes began circling aimlessly in holding patterns, unable to land safely. Air Traffic Control (ATC) was forced to shift to manual operations, causing massive delays and flight cancellations.

The technical details: GPS spoofing works by flooding an aircraft's navigation receiver with stronger fake GPS signals than the legitimate satellite signals from space. The aircraft's systems, unable to distinguish authentic from counterfeit signals, accept the false data and ignore the weaker genuine signals. This causes the autopilot and navigation systems to believe the aircraft is in a completely different location than it actually is.

The Faridabad Explosives Arrest

Two days before the Delhi explosion, on November 9, Jammu & Kashmir Police and Haryana Police arrested a doctor and recovered an enormous cache of explosives from his residences in Faridabad. The seizure included:

Approximately 2,900 kilograms of ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials
Assault rifles and firearms
Ammunition and detonation devices
Timers and triggering mechanisms

Experts warn that explosives of this quantity could devastate a 50-100 meter radius and cause structural damage up to 120 meters away. This represented one of the largest terror plot discoveries in recent years.

The Red Fort Car Explosion

On November 10, a Hyundai i20 car parked near the Suryamandi Mosque near Delhi's Red Fort detonated, killing at least 13 people and injuring over 20 others. The vehicle had been parked in that location for approximately three hours before the blast occurred.

The Red Fort is one of India's most historically significant and heavily secured locations, making this attack particularly alarming for national security.

Connecting the Dots: A Coordinated Terror Plot?

What makes these incidents extraordinary is their timing and apparent coordination:

GPS spoofing at Delhi Airport (November 6-7): Potentially designed to create chaos, distract security forces, or facilitate the movement of terror operatives
Explosives seizure in Faridabad (November 9): Reveals a terror network acquiring massive quantities of weapons and explosives
Red Fort car bombing (November 10): Execution of an attack at a high-security national landmark

Security analysts believe these events are likely interconnected—the airport attack may have been designed to divert attention from the explosives network or to provide cover for terror operatives.

National Security Response

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's office has launched a comprehensive investigation into the GPS spoofing incident, treating it as a potential cyberattack rather than a mere technical failure. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued new protocols requiring pilots and air traffic controllers to report any suspected GPS spoofing incidents within 10 minutes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned from Bhutan that those responsible for this conspiracy will face justice and that "no wrongdoer will be spared."

GPS Spoofing: A Growing Global Threat

GPS spoofing is not new. Between November 2023 and February 2025, India recorded 465 such incidents, particularly in border regions like Amritsar and Jammu. Major powers including the United States, Russia, and China possess this technology.

Russia frequently uses GPS spoofing to protect President Putin during flights—creating a false digital "decoy" of his aircraft's location while the actual aircraft follows a different path. Now, this technology has become accessible to non-state actors and criminal networks, making it an emerging national security threat for India.

Implications for Aviation Safety

The November incident exposed critical vulnerabilities in India's aviation infrastructure. When GPS systems fail, pilots must rely on manual navigation and radio communication with ATC—procedures that are slower, more error-prone, and significantly increase collision risks when multiple aircraft are in the same airspace.

With Delhi Airport handling over 1,300 flights daily and ranking among the world's 10 busiest airports, such failures directly impact millions of passengers and represent catastrophic risks to aviation safety.