UK defense secretary's plane hit by suspected Russian GPS jamming
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A Royal Air Force (RAF) jet carrying U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey from his visit to Estonia had its signals jammed near the Russian border, in an incident first reported by the Times on May 24.
A U.K. defense source confirmed the incident to the Kyiv Independent, calling it the result of "reckless Russian interference."
The Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft reportedly had its satellite signal disabled for the entire three-hour flight on May 21.
The plane was carrying political and military advisors, a general, two photographers, and a journalist when it was hit by interference at the start of the journey.
As a result, pilots had to use "revisionary" navigation systems to calculate their location, the Times reported. The U.K. defense source said that "the RAF is well prepared to deal with this activity."
It remains unclear whether Russia purposefully targeted Healey's plane.
Healey visited Estonia — a NATO ally bordering Russia — last week to meet his Estonian counterpart, Hanno Pevkur, and British troops stationed there.
Estonia permanently hosts a U.K.-led brigade, a part of NATO's Forward Land Forces initiatives, with additional allied troops temporarily deployed here for the ongoing Spring Storm exercises.
Western officials have raised alarms over widespread GPS jamming near Russian borders, particularly in the Baltic region.
A military jet carrying Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles was hit by a GPS disturbance last September near Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plane encountered similar interference last year in Bulgaria.
