Russia blocks planes' GPS and forces them to turn back

Brussels – During the flight, the aircraft had to return to the departure airport due to GPS signal disturbances., which is the system that reports the position of the aircraft relative to the ground. This happened on two trips Veneer Coming from Helsinki With the destination Tartu In Estonia, the flight takes 45 minutes. The authorities suspect this The GPS flaw has been attributed to Russia.

“If someone turns off the headlights while driving at night, it becomes dangerous.” He told the Financial Times Gabrielius LandsbergisThe Lithuanian Foreign Minister added that “matters near the Russian border have become too serious to be ignored.” Estonia, Minister for Foreign Affairs, also agrees and is concerned about the situation. Margos TsahknashHe said: “Such actions are a hybrid attack and constitute a danger to our people and our security, and we will not tolerate them.”

For the Estonian Air Navigation Services Company (IANS) GPS interferences have been increasing recently, affecting air traffic procedures. to'IssaThe European Aviation Safety Agency is studying the situation, but says so at the moment There are no imminent security concerns. Airplanes have different systems that allow them to understand their location on the Earth. However, to approach the small Tartu Airport at night, which is not equipped with Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), it is necessary to use a GPS. This prompted the two crews to decide to return to Helsinki.

This would not be the first time that Moscow has blocked aircraft tracking signals. On 14 March, a Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft was on board Grant Shappsparticipated the Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom. The plane remained without a GPS signal for more than half an hour While flying in Polish airspace, not far from the Russian enclave Kaliningrad, Home to the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet.

According to experts, causing temporary damage to the GPS network is possible with fairly cheap equipment. The purpose of such a measure may be to protect Kaliningrad from drone attacks by the Ukrainians. Kyiv in recent weeks has managed to do this Corvette hit Serpukhov Which was located in the port of the Russian enclave. Drones, unlike airplanes, use GPS exclusively to understand their locations. Therefore, any malfunction in this system will be equivalent to stopping the drones from working.