Military GPS tests off Southern California and near Mexico

What happened

The US Federal Aviation Administration published two flight advisories for scheduled GPS interference tests in Southern California in November 2026.^[1][3]

The first, for the Southern California Tactical Training Range around San Clemente Island, lists test windows on 4 November, 7 November, 12 November and 13 November over an area running from the Los Angeles coast south to the waters off Baja California.^[1][2]

The second, for a Marine Corps Air Station test centred near Thermal, covers 9 November to 12 November, within 43 nautical miles of the test point at most altitudes.^[3][4]

Both say GPS, including WAAS, GBAS and ADS-B, may not be available during the tests. These are scheduled tests, not incidents.^[1][3]

What our map showed

This report follows a published test schedule, not a reported incident.

Open this day on the live map

Affected share

15%

High-interference hexagons

13 of 88

30-day average

14%

About the same as the previous 30 days

Other areas checked

By altitude

Each day checked

Day by day

What others said

• FAA flight advisory SCTTR GPS 26-10 official notice
  Says the testing may result in an unreliable or unavailable GPS signal, and that each event may last the entire requested period. 30 October 2026 · faasafety.gov
• FAA flight advisory MCASCA GPS 26-05 official notice
  Encourages pilots to report anomalies, and warns that the notices may change with little or no warning. 4 November 2026 · faasafety.gov
• FAA Safety Team notice to pilots
  Tells pilots to check NOTAMs before flying in the area. 30 October 2026 · faasafety.gov
• STORMPREP preparedness site
  Republished the Thermal advisory and pointed readers to the full FAA document. 5 November 2026 · akiatech.com

Context

• Region page: United States
• This day's page: 4 November 2026
• Possible causes: Tests and exercises
• Official notice: FAA SCTTR GPS 26-10 Rev 1, GPS interference testing, Southern California Tactical Training Range, CA, 4 Nov 08:00–12:00 UTC; 7 Nov 08:00–12:00 UTC; 12 Nov 22:00–23:59 UTC; 13 Nov 00:00–01:00 and 18:00–22:00 UTC.
• Official notice: FAA MCASCA GPS 26-05, GPS interference testing, Thermal, CA, 9–12 Nov 2026, daily 07:00–12:59 and 17:00–23:59 UTC.
• Other reports: United flights report GPS interference near Los Angeles
• Other reports: GPS spoofing off Long Beach during a military test window

Sources

1. Federal Aviation Administration. Flight advisory: GPS interference testing, SCTTR GPS 26-10 Rev 1, Southern California Tactical Training Range, CA, 30 October 2026.
2. FAA Safety Team. Notice NOTC5314: GPS Interference Testing San Clemente Island, CA 04 - 13 NOV, 30 October 2026.
3. Federal Aviation Administration. Flight advisory: GPS interference testing, MCASCA GPS 26-05, Marine Corps Air Station, CA, 4 November 2026.
4. FAA Safety Team. Notice NOTC5331: GPS Interference Testing Thermal, CA 09 - 12 NOV, 4 November 2026.
5. STORMPREP. GPS Interference Testing Thermal, CA 09 – 12 NOV, 5 November 2026.
6. Southern California Aviation United Working Group. GPS Testing – So Cal.

Cite this report

GPSInterference.com (2026). Military GPS tests off Southern California and near Mexico. Report, 10 November 2026, updated 10 November 2026. https://gpsinterference.com/reports/2026-11-04-southern-california-gps-tests-november. Data: adsb.lol ADS-B, method v2, report rules v1.

@misc{gpsinterference_2026_11_04_southern_california_gps_tests_november,
  author = {{GPSInterference.com}},
  title = {Military GPS tests off Southern California and near Mexico},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://gpsinterference.com/reports/2026-11-04-southern-california-gps-tests-november}},
  note = {Report, updated 2026-11-10. Data: adsb.lol ADS-B, method v2, report rules v1}
}

Corrections

No corrections.

The figures are recomputed automatically when the archive is updated. Last recomputed 10 November 2026.