'Russia sabotaged GPS during flight of British defense minister'

©picture alliance / Anadolu | Mehmet Ali Ozcan

A Royal Air Force jet with current British defense minister John Healey on board was confronted with severe GPS malfunctions for three hours.

Russia is believed to be responsible for disrupting the flight systems of a British government aircraft last week. This was reported by the Kyiv Independent based on a statement made by an anonymous British defense official. This confirms earlier reporting by The Times.

On board the aircraft was defense minister John Healey, among others, who was en route to the United Kingdom from Estonia.

According to The Times, the on board computers of the government aircraft were not working, or barely working, during the entire flight. As a result, seeing as the GPS navigation wasn't working, the cockpit crew had to rely on manual positioning. The crew was forced to switch to alternative navigation systems (such as inertial navigation). The Internet connections of the equipment present were not working. One of the pilots called the incident something he had not experienced "in a long time".

Since the systems could not be rebooted during the flight, the aircraft had to continue its journey as normal. Russia has been accused many times of so-called GPS jamming. This involves jamming satellite signals, which can interfere with the navigation of aircraft, ships and other vehicles. In this incident, it appears that Russia is behind the sabotage.

Earlier this year, several European countries already signaled an increase in such disruptions. As recently as September, for example, Sweden reported a marked increase in the number of GPS incidents. European authorities have long warned that this type of digital disruption not only causes inconvenience but also poses security risks. According to officials, electronic warfare is widely used by Russia in this region.

©picture alliance / Anadolu | Mehmet Ali Ozcan