Russia accused of GPS jamming in Central Europe, affecting flights

In recent months, there has been an increasing occurrence of serious GPS signal disruptions, primarily in Central Europe. The latest such incident took place on Sunday. According to Daily Mail, the recent disturbances complicated the flight of over 1,600 airplanes. It appears that Russia is behind the navigation issues.

The GPS signal is likely being jammed from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, affecting flights whose routes pass over Poland, the Baltic states, the Baltic Sea, or southern Sweden.

Since Sunday, 1,614 airplanes have reported problems determining their positions on the map. The vast majority were civilian aircraft.

Daily Mail quotes security expert Prof. Melanie Garson, who assessed that Russia has an advantage over Western countries in terms of electronic warfare capabilities.

Moreover, as she added, "over the past two years, Russia has further strengthened its position in this area." - There are serious concerns that NATO is currently unable to cope with this- declared Prof. Garson.

The Kremlin itself draws suspicion for disturbing the GPS signal in Europe. As noted on social media by Michał Marek, an expert in disinformation, information about the disruptions appears almost immediately in Russian propaganda channels.

The messages on this subject consistently convey one false narrative: that NATO is deliberately disrupting the GPS signal to thereby conceal the deployment of its troops. Russian propaganda asserts that this indicates the Alliance's preparation "for attack".

This is yet another case of such disruptions in recent months. John Wiseman, an expert from the Gpsjam portal, noted, the scale of the disruptions is unprecedented. He suspects that they could be the result of deliberate attempts to jam the signal or military exercises.

Joakim Paasikivi from the Swedish Defence University, in an interview with the Swedish public broadcaster SVT, stated that Russia had previously interfered with the northern European GPS system.

Paasikivi assessed that the disruptions could be part of Russian influence operations or so-called hybrid warfare. - It may be Russia's way of sowing uncertainty and demonstrating power - he said.

The GPS system is essential for navigation and positioning. Although disruptions to systems can pose a problem for aviation, they are not a direct threat. In addition to GPS, aircraft utilize other positioning tools such as accelerometers and fixed ground points.

Source: dailymail.co.uk/WP News