GPS signal disruptions have been occurring since the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022. The website indicates that the source of these disruptions “appears to be centered around the Russian exclave” in Königsberg – “a key military area for Moscow.”
Expert: A passenger plane almost crashed into a mountain
In mid-March, Russia probably jammed the GPS signal on the plane in which British Defense Minister Grant Shapps was returning from a visit to Poland.
– It’s a real threat. We know of one case of accidental jamming of the GPS signal, as a result of which a passenger plane almost crashed into a mountain, Dana Goward, president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, told Politico. He was referring to a case reported by NASA in 2019.
Cases related to GPS signal interference are being investigated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EASA and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) organized a joint workshop on this topic in January. Eurocontrol’s acting executive director at the time, Luc Tytgat, said the agency had seen “a sharp increase in the number of attacks on GPS systems, which poses a security risk.” This week, however, EASA spokeswoman Janes Northcote said the situation “is not currently considered dangerous.” She also added that the “awareness” of the aircraft crews themselves has improved.
GPS. The number of signal jamming incidents is increasing
“There was a large increase in the number of GPS failure reports in the first two months of 2024. In absolute terms, we recorded 985 GPS disruptions compared to 1,371 in all of 2023,” EASA said, adding that in the first two months of this year there were almost seven times more incidents compared to the first two months of 2023. Politico cites, among others, X platform user Markus Jonsson, who indicated a few days ago that the disruption of the GPS signal in the Baltic Sea region lasted “for 47 consecutive hours, which means that this is the longest period of disruption in history” and affected at least 1,614 aircraft.
Politico says jamming GPS signals is relatively easy, and tools can be purchased online. “Typical regions where GPS disruptions have been reported include the Baltic and Königsberg areas, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean,” said Jenni Kiiski, spokeswoman for Finnair, one of the airlines most affected by GPS disruptions.
Source: Gazeta
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