Swedish authorities blame Russia for the biggest GPS sabotage in the Baltic Sea, ever recorded. On 18 December last year, the first civilian plane reported total loss of satellite navigation. Soon large parts of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Germany were affected, the authorities say.
Featured image: Targets for Russian GPS jamming include flying military air traffic and combat control aircraft such as one of two Saab S100 planes in Swedish Air Force service
(Archive photo shows an older S100B)
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the Baltic Sea Fleet was running an exercise in electronic warfare, with about 100 soldiers from 20 units in Kaliningrad since Christmas. “The purpose was to suppress enemy navigation and radio communications.”
GPS jamming by Russia is not new. Last year Norwegian authorities in the far north of the country reported a.o. their ambulance helicopters suffered jamming by the Russia military. It is also common practice during NATO exercises in the Baltic Sea area. But a GPS jamming of this size and for such a long time is reportedly not the usual state of affairs. | © Text and photo 2024 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com.