GPS signal jamming over Baltic Sea is side effect of Russian military activity

The jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic Sea has been "most likely" a side effect of Russia's efforts against attack drones.

Source: Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, as reported by European Pravda with reference to Politico

Quote: "The interference intensified when Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure began in January 2024."

Details: Estonia also accuses Russia of jamming the signal, but the Finnish agency disagrees with the Tallinn government's definition of the interference as a hybrid attack.

"It is possible that the interference observed in aviation currently are most likely a side effect of Russia's self-protection that is used to prevent the navigation and control of drones controlled by GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite System] or mobile frequencies," Traficom noted.

Anyway, the Finnish agency stated that flying to and from Finland is safe due to inertial navigation and ground-based navigation alternatives. Although GPS is still "the main source of navigation information in aviation".

Earlier this week, Finnair airline suspended flights to the Estonian city of Tartu for a month. The Estonian government announced its intention to discuss this issue with its EU and NATO partners.

"[The] North Atlantic Council addressed the recent malign activities on Allied territory yesterday [2 May] and stated that Russia’s hybrid operations such as cyber and electronic interference but also sabotage, acts of violence and disinformation campaigns have affected several NATO member states," a representative of the Estonian Foreign Ministry pointed out, referring to a NATO statement published on Thursday.

Background: The Baltic countries noted that the GPS jamming that Russia is accused of may cause an air catastrophe.

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