After the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, aircraft flying in the Baltic Sea region began to experience more frequent interruptions in the operation of navigation systems.
Russia threatens air travel in Europe. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, aircraft flying in the Baltic Sea region began to experience disruptions in the operation of navigation systems. Finnair pilots began reporting unusual GPS interference during flights near the Kaliningrad region in March 2022. According to the state-owned company Latvijas Gaisa satiksme, which is responsible for the arrangement of air traffic in Latvia, the intensity of interference in the country began to increase at the same time. In the summer of 2023, Lithuania and Estonia had GPS problems. Since then, the area where the interference was detected has expanded and its density has increased. For example, the disturbance in the northeastern part of Norway in 2022 was observed for 122 days, and in 2023 – 294 days. At the end of December, strong interference was recorded in southern Sweden, northern Poland and the Baltic countries.
Baltic jammer
In mid-March, the plane on which British Defense Secretary Grant Shepps was returning from Poland lost its GPS signal for half an hour while flying near the Kaliningrad region. In the second half of March, interference in the Baltic Sea area was observed for a record 47 consecutive hours, affecting 1,614 aircraft.
The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation analyzed the situation in a similar way. In the first two months of 2024, the organization received 985 reports of GPS failure, according to a spokesperson. For comparison, for the entire year of 2023 there were 1,371 such messages.
The Baltic countries believe that GPS signals in the region are being intercepted by Russia. There are two types of GPS jammers. “The first type is jamming itself, that is, broadcasting white noise on the GPS frequency so that GPS receivers cannot get useful information from the received data and understand their position on the ground,” said the head of the Conflict Intelligence Team, Ruslan Leviev . Another technology called spoofing involves faking the GPS signal. By sending such a signal, the spoofer deceives the GPS receiver and causes it to determine the coordinates incorrectly.
Across the border
The location of devices causing interference in the Baltic region is unknown. OSINT researcher Markus Jonsson, who has been trying to establish the location of the “Baltic jammer” since 2023, has, using various data and methods, several times come to the conclusion that the device is located in Kaliningrad.
Some European politicians also agree with the version that the device causing disruption in the Baltic region is located in the Kaliningrad region. In particular, at the end of April, the director of the Finnish Institute of International Relations and candidate for the European Parliament, Mika Aaltola, spoke about it.
Leviev believes that similar devices can be found throughout the borders of the Russian Federation. At the same time, he admitted that over time the number of jammers and their power will only increase.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.