While flying near the Russian border, a Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Defence Secretary John Healey temporarily lost GPS signal, The Times reported, citing sources in the UK Ministry of Defence.
The incident occurred in airspace over the Baltic Sea. According to the British side, the signal loss was temporary but serious enough to impact the aircraft’s navigation. The crew successfully managed the situation using backup systems.
London believes that the most likely cause of the incident was Russia’s use of electronic warfare (EW) systems. Such incidents have recently become more frequent in the region, particularly near the borders of NATO countries and over the Baltic.
“We are recording increasing aggressiveness in Russia’s actions in the electromagnetic spectrum,” a source in the British Ministry of Defence noted.
This is not the first such incident involving Western military aircraft near Russian borders. Previously, similar cases of GPS signal loss were recorded among pilots in Germany, the USA, and Poland.