‘Russian GPS interference’ forces Baltic flights to divert and cancel

Russia is periodically jamming GPS signals in the Baltic Sea region represents a threat to civil aviation, The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have condemned it.

thousands of ci flightsMany people have been affected by GPS interference in recent months. “GPS interference does not generally affect air routes or flight safety, as aircraft have alternative systems that are used when GPS signals are interfered with,” Finnair explained through a spokesperson.

Earlier this month, Germany said Russia was likely behind a number of interferences affecting shipping in the Baltic region. Neither the Kremlin nor Russia’s Defense Ministry responded to requests for clarification.

In view of this situation, Finnair announced on Monday that it would be suspending flights to Tartu in eastern Estonia for a month due to these GPS glitches in the area. According to industry group OpsGroup, GPS jamming and spoofing has worsened in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Middle East. Last week, Two flights had to be diverted back to Helsinki The maneuvers were stopped near Tartu after GPS interference.

The situation has become particularly worse since the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Finnair pilots have reported interference, particularly on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and eastern Russia near Kaliningrad. Enclave near the Mediterranean, the company said. “Finnair will suspend its daily flights to Tartu, Estonia, from April 29 to May 31 in order to search for an alternative solution at Tartu Airport that does not require a GPS signal,” the Finnish airline said in a statement.

The German Defense Ministry indicated Kaliningrad as to the source of the intervention, although he declined to provide details, citing “military security reasons”.

Speaking to the Financial Times, a senior official suggested that Russia could jam GPS signals to protect Kaliningrad from possible attacks by Ukrainian drones. In March, The Times reported that Russia may have jammed the GPS signal on a Royal Air Force plane carrying the Defense Secretary, Grant Shapps, returning to UK from Poland. According to journalists, the GPS signal was lost for about 30 minutes when the Dassault 900LX Falcon flew over the Baltic Sea near the Kaliningrad region.

GPS is a tool of increasing relevance in aviation, replacing the radio beams used to guide planes to landing. Estonia has accused Russia of violating international airspace rules.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said, “If someone turns off the lights while driving at night, it becomes dangerous. The situation in the Baltic region near the Russian borders is now becoming so dangerous that it cannot be ignored. ” gabrielius landsbergisIn conversation with ‘Financial Times’.

Foreign Minister of Estonia, Margas Tsahkana, said the Baltic countries consider the jamming of GPS signals a “hybrid attack by the Russian Federation” that threatens their citizens. Estonia will raise this GPS jamming issue with its neighbors and intends to discuss it in the EU and NATO, Tsähakna said after Finnair’s decision. “It is a fact that Russia interferes with GPS devices in the airspace over our territory,” the minister said through a spokesperson, although no one from his department provided evidence.“We will definitely discuss this with our partners”He concluded.

Latvian Foreign Minister, baiba braiseSaid that the Baltic countries are “taking the GPS incidents seriously” and are “in contact with colleagues from other states” on the issue.

“The problem with GPS is also starting to reach the northern part of the Gulf of Finland. And the same thing has happened in Sweden, where it has reached Swedish airspace,” he told Reuters. Laurie Soini, Finnair pilot. A spokesperson said the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is not monitoring the jam in real time, but information from open sources suggests there was heavy congestion in the area on the day the two planes were diverted. There was a jam.