The military plane on which British Defense Minister John Healey returned from Estonia was affected by GPS signal jamming near the Russian border for about three hours.
The plane's GPS signal was jammed near Russia. : Wikipedia Commons
A Royal Air Force (RAF) plane carrying British Defense Minister John Healey suffered GPS signal disruption during a flight near the Russian border on its way back from Estonia, according to information published by British media.
The incident took place on Thursday, during the flight to Great Britain, after the British official had participated in meetings with British troops deployed in Estonia, a NATO member state located near the border with Russia. A journalist was also on board the RAF Falcon 900LX government aircraft, who later reported that “the government plane's satellite signal has been disrupted”.
The technical problems affected the connectivity systems on board: mobile phones and laptops no longer had access to the Internet, and the crew had to resort to alternative navigation methods to determine the aircraft's position for the duration of the flight, which was estimated to be around three hours.
According to The Guardian, the pilots used secondary systems, including inertial navigation, and passengers were told the plane could continue safely despite the electronic disturbances. The British Ministry of Defense has not officially commented on the incident.
Suspicions regarding Russia's involvement
Although there is no official confirmation, defense sources in London suspect that Russia is behind the electronic jamming. The aircraft's track was visible on flight monitoring platforms, meaning the aircraft could be identified in real time.
A British security official described the situation as a “irresponsible Russian interference”stressing that the RAF has standard procedures for operating in GPS jamming conditions and that such incidents do not pose a major risk to flight safety.
British authorities said interference with GPS systems is not uncommon near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and in areas adjacent to Russia, where electronic warfare activities have been frequently reported.
Other incidents
The incident comes in an already tense context between London and Moscow.
British authorities recently accused Russian fighter jets of “repeatedly and dangerously” intercepting an RAF surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea. According to the British Ministry of Defence, an Su-35 aircraft would have come close enough to activate the British aircraft's defensive systems and temporarily affect the operation of the autopilot.
The case recalls a similar episode in 2024, when the RAF plane carrying former British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps was hit by GPS jamming while flying near the Kaliningrad enclave on a return trip from Poland. The disturbances then lasted for about 30 minutes.
In recent months, several Baltic and Nordic states have reported increasing incidents of GPS jamming attributed to Russia. The problems affected both military aircraft and commercial flights, and some airlines were forced to change landing procedures or suspend certain routes.
Security experts say GPS jamming is part of the electronic warfare arsenal used by Russia to disrupt the navigation, communications and guidance systems of aircraft and drones, a phenomenon that has intensified in the Baltic region since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
