Russia jammed GPS of Defence Secretary's aircraft on trip to Poland


Russia jammed the Global Positioning System (GPS) signal of the Defence Secretary’s official jet on a round trip to Poland.

Grant Shapps was travelling on the RAF’s Envoy, a Dassault 900LX, to visit troops in Mazury, a military base near the Belarus border, when the aircraft’s pilots lost access to the GPS.

The aircraft was passing by Kaliningrad, a Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania, on Wednesday morning when the attack happened.

On the return flight Russia blocked the system again, this time for 30 minutes, as Mr Shapps, who was accompanied by journalists, flew back to London on Wednesday evening.

The plane’s internal Wi-Fi was also temporarily down during both of the jamming attacks.

A defence source said the jamming was “directly related to Putin and the attack on Ukraine and the sensitivities around Kaliningrad”.

However Mr Shapps was assured the electronic attack did not threaten the safety of the aircraft.

Contingency plans

It is understood the pilots had contingency plans for such an event and were able to navigate by other means at their disposal.

The source added: “While the RAF are well prepared to deal with this, it still puts an unnecessary risk on civilian aircraft and could potentially endanger people’s lives.

“There is no excuse for this and it’s widely irresponsible on Russia’s part.”

This is not the first time Russia has targeted RAF aircrafts.

In 2021 RAF planes flying from Cyprus were subject to routine GPS jamming by Russia.

Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets, A400M transport aircraft and Voyager troop planes were all attacked as they flew in and out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a major base for the British military.

Defence sources have said that Russia’s pattern of behaviour was typical of being able to antagonise other nations without using direct violence.

This year Finland, Norway and Poland have all warned Russia’s jamming of GPS was not only affecting military units but airlines and air ambulance services.

The practice has been regarded as an almost daily occurrence when transiting near the Russian border.

Electronic warfare units

A recent study by the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, found Russia’s electronic warfare units are so widespread that they cause havoc with GPS signals in nearby countries.

It cited high levels of GPS interference in Poland on Jan 10 and Jan 16, and in the south Baltic Sea between Dec 25 and Dec 27.

However, it was reported that although the interference affected aircraft GPS systems, flights were not impacted because air traffic control enabled navigation through alternative systems.