More than 1,600 planes affected by mysterious GPS glitches across Europe – with Russia feared to be responsible
- Airplanes are experiencing GPS interference in Western airspace
- More than 1,600 aircraft have been affected since Sunday
- Russia is a leading player in electronic warfare
More than 1,600 planes have been affected by a mysterious interference that many fear Russia is behind.
Planes flying over and around the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe have been experiencing technical problems due to jamming since Sunday. Since then, 1,614 aircraft, mainly civilian, have reported problems.
Although most of these events occur in Polish airspace, OSINT blogs have reported that aircraft flying in German, Danish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace are experiencing interference problems.
Strikingly, there appears to be little or no interference in Belarus, a close Russian ally, or in Kaliningrad, the Russian province separated from the mainland by both sea and land.
The planes appear to be experiencing GPS interference, which can confuse pilots as it can lead them to believe they are in a different location than they actually are.
While most of them appear to take place in Polish airspace, OSINT blogs have reported that aircraft flying in German, Danish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace have experienced interference issues
Vladimir Putin’s military (pictured) has an advantage over much of the world in electronic warfare
Newsweek reported that the increase in interference can largely be attributed to the Kaliningrad region, where Russia is believed to have significant resources for the use of electronic warfare.
A Lithuanian defense source told the newspaper: “Russian armed forces have a wide spectrum of military equipment intended for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) interference, including jamming and spoofing, at varying distances, duration and intensity.”
A leading military expert has said Russian dominance in the electronics war should be a ‘wake-up call’ for the British military.
Dr. Melanie Garson, associate professor of international security at University College London, told Forces.net: ‘Russia in particular has had a head start on this before and they have the need.
βThe mother of inventions has actually actively strengthened their capabilities in this field during the past two years during the war.
“They’ve had the opportunity to use it more concretely and there is a real concern that, especially NATO, is not meeting those capabilities at the moment.”