On Thursday, the British government announced that a Royal Air Force Dassault 900LX, with the country’s defense secretary on board, had the GPS system jammed when it flew near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The aircraft, carrying Secretary Grant Shapps, was returning from Poland, where the cabinet member was observing planned NATO exercises.
A reporter for The Times of London who was traveling with the official delegation described the incident as lasting for approximately 30 minutes and that the electronic interference also obstructed internet access in the passenger cabin.
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson, Dave Pares, told reporters that “the jamming didn’t threaten the safety of the aircraft at any point.” The flight crew reportedly used alternative methods of navigation during the outage period.
European regulators have stated that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the use of disruptive signal technologies by Moscow has become more common throughout its border areas. In February, the Norwegian Communication Authority described such attacks as an almost daily occurrence.
