# Meaconing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Meaconing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Meaconing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaconing > Source revision: 1322709128 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Electronic countermeasure}} {{refimprove|date=July 2012}} '''Meaconing''' is the [interception](/source/interception) and rebroadcast of [navigation](/source/navigation) signals. These signals are rebroadcast on the received frequency, typically with power higher than the original signal, to confuse enemy navigation. Consequently, aircraft or ground stations are given inaccurate bearings.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/m/03301.html |title=U.S. Military definition of Meaconing |access-date=2008-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529174246/http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/m/03301.html |archive-date=2010-05-29 |url-status=dead }} Meaconing is more of a concern to personnel in navigation ratings than to radio operators. However, communications [transmitters](/source/transmitters) are often used to transmit navigation signals. Since communications personnel operate the transmitters, they must know how to deal with any communications problems resulting from meaconing. Successful meaconing can cause aircraft to be lured into "hot" (ambush-ready) landing zones or enemy airspace, ships to be diverted from their intended routes, bombers to expend ordnance on false targets, or ground stations to receive inaccurate bearings or position locations. The term 'meacon' is a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of ''masking beacon''. ==Alleged cases of meaconing== [Iran](/source/Iran) says it used this technique (among others) to capture a [USAF](/source/USAF) [RQ-170 Sentinel](/source/RQ-170_Sentinel) drone, causing it to crash land. Meaconing in this case could provide a drone with false altitude measurements, causing a crash landing. {{citation needed|date=July 2012}} ==Acronym== * '''MIJI''' (Meaconing, Intrusion, Jamming, and Interference) ==In popular culture== In the film ''[Tomorrow Never Dies](/source/Tomorrow_Never_Dies)'', a military [GPS signal](/source/GPS_signal) is meaconed to send a [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) [frigate](/source/Type_23_Frigate) off course. In the novel and miniseries of the [John J. Nance](/source/John_J._Nance) novel ''[Pandora's Clock](/source/Pandora's_Clock)'', an attempt to warn the airliner about an impending attack is summarily dismissed as an attempt at meaconing. The villain of ''[Die Hard 2](/source/Die_Hard_2)'' changes the [Dulles Airport](/source/Dulles_Airport)'s [ATC](/source/Air_traffic_control) beacon altitude to below ground level, causing planes' altimeters to provide false readings, thus causing landing planes to crash. In the video game ''[Black (video game)](/source/Black_(video_game))'', the player can destroy "evidence of cell phone meaconing" in the third level of the game. ==See also== * [Radio jamming](/source/Radio_jamming) * [Interference (communication)](/source/Interference_(communication)) * [List of World War II electronic warfare equipment](/source/List_of_World_War_II_electronic_warfare_equipment) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Wiktionary}} Category:Electronic countermeasures --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Meaconing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaconing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaconing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.