WORLD
1 min read
UK defence chief’s aircraft hit by signal jamming near Russian border
GPS disruption forced the crew to rely on alternative navigation systems during the return flight.
UK defence chief’s aircraft hit by signal jamming near Russian border
The interference reportedly disabled the aircraft’s GPS system throughout the three-hour flight. / Reuters

A Royal Air Force aircraft carrying UK Defence Secretary John Healey has experienced signal jamming near the Russian border, according to a report published by The Times.

Sunday’s report said that satellite signals on Healey’s government aircraft were disrupted on Thursday while he was returning to the United Kingdom following a visit to southeastern Estonia.

The interference reportedly disabled the aircraft’s GPS system throughout the three-hour flight.

According to the report, the disruption also affected laptops and smartphones on board, forcing pilots to rely on alternative inertial navigation systems to determine the aircraft’s position.

Russia is believed to have been behind the incident, according to the report.

One of the pilots described the event as an unusual occurrence that he had not experienced “in a long time.”

RelatedTRT World - Russian GPS jamming disrupted 123,000 flights over Baltic airspace: report
SOURCE:AA