Gps Jamming Of Leader's Plane Puts Putin's Hybrid Warfare On Europe's Radar

LONDON — The Kremlin’s campaign of hybrid warfare has jammed its measurement to nan apical of Europe’s agenda.

A level carrying nan continent’s apical charismatic mislaid its GPS navigation while midair complete nan continent’s wary eastbound complete nan play and was forced to onshore utilizing insubstantial maps. This was nan astir high-profile lawsuit yet, officials and experts said Tuesday, of a Russian strategy that is not only disrupting recreation but imperiling lives.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s formation landed safely successful Bulgaria, conscionable a short region from Russian territory. But it has fixed a jolt to European fears complete Moscow’s suspected interference pinch Western signals.

Once a inheritance nuisance, nan rumor has surged into a mounting information interest — escalating successful measurement pinch Moscow’s warfare successful Ukraine — and has nan continent scrambling to adapt.

NATO 'working time and night'

Bulgarian authorities later confirmed that nan outer awesome guiding nan plane’s navigation strategy had been neutralized. The European Commission said Bulgaria suspected “blatant interference by Russia.”

The Kremlin has not responded publicly, but spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told nan Financial Times, which primitively reported nan story, that its accusation was “incorrect.”

NATO takes nan jamming of GPS signals “very seriously” and is “working time and nighttime to antagonistic this, to forestall it, and to make judge that they will not do it again,” Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Tuesday.

He framed nan awesome interference arsenic portion of a overmuch broader run spanning nan cutting of undersea cables successful nan Baltic Sea and a cyberattack connected Britain’s National Health Service.

The threat from Russia was “increasing each day,” he said.

The disruption of von der Leyen’s level has thrust nan rumor into nan spotlight astatine a clip erstwhile Europe is already connected separator complete nan warfare successful Ukraine and its spillover effects.

While pilots and vessel captains expected occasional outages adjacent Russia’s borders aliases conflict zones, incidents person surged successful caller years.

The Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority said location had been a “noticeable increase” successful GPS incidents, including jamming, since Russia launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022.

Destroyed houses successful Kyiv, Ukraine, connected Sunday.Kostya Liberov / Libkos via Getty Images

In June, 13 European Union personnel states raised nan siren complete jamming and spoofing threats disrupting aerial and oversea travel.

According to an E.U. document, Poland logged 2,732 cases of interference successful January 2025, up from 1,908 successful precocious 2023. Lithuania recorded 1,185 cases successful nan aforesaid month, much than double nan fig from March 2024.

The archive describes interference arsenic “not random incidents but a systemic, deliberate action by Russia and Belarus.”

Germany’s apical subject commander, Gen. Carsten Breuer, said Monday location had been a important summation successful GPS jamming incidents since nan warfare successful Ukraine began, adding that he had personally knowledgeable it connected 2 occasions, erstwhile complete nan Baltic Sea and again during a subject workout successful Lithuania.

Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden and Germany person formally declared specified interference a shape of Russian hybrid warfare.

A 'happy propaganda coup'?

Open-source investigation tracing nan origins of interference many times points to 2 basking spots: Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, wedged betwixt Poland and Lithuania, and nan St. Petersburg area successful occidental Russia. Both regions big a dense attraction of Russian subject units specializing successful physics warfare.

In March 2024, a Royal Air Force level carrying nan U.K.’s then–defense secretary, Grant Shapps, besides reported a spoofing incident, wherever mendacious location information was fed to nan aircraft’s navigation systems.

The plane, which had been flying adjacent Kaliningrad, was capable to proceed its travel safely, but specified strategies person successful nan past caused planes to veer disconnected course.

The incident pinch von der Leyen’s level occurred while she was connected a four-day circuit of E.U. personnel states that separator Russia, Belarus aliases nan Black Sea.

Shapps was connected a formation from Poland to nan U.K., which has been a beardown backer of Ukraine.Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty Images file

While “incredibly irresponsible,” jamming von der Leyen’s level wasn’t needfully a “malicious action” directed against her specifically, said Thomas Withington, an physics warfare and aerial defense master astatine nan Royal United Services Institute, a deliberation vessel successful London.

“I deliberation connected this occasion, Ms. von der Leyen’s craft was conscionable unlucky,” he told NBC News, adding that Russia mostly transmits jamming signals pinch nan volition of disrupting satellite-guided weapons aliases drones.

“I deliberation nan truth that her craft was jammed is astir apt a benignant of happy propaganda coup for Mr. Putin and his government,” he said.

As disruption increases, nan West has stepped up countermeasures.

The E.U. outlined plans Monday to deploy additional satellites into debased Earth orbit to fortify its expertise to observe interference.

Together pinch Poland, Sweden and Denmark, a land-based positioning strategy is being group up astir nan Baltic Sea.

Poland has besides group up coastal monitoring stations to trace interference successful existent time, while Italy has announced plans to tighten information connected authorities flights, including classifying formation information and restricting entree to search and formation plans.

Some airlines are updating procedures to hole crews for extended outages.

Eric Schouten, an intelligence expert and CEO of Dyami Security Intelligence, said nan incident was not a “major escalation,” explaining that pilots were now trained utilizing backup systems and really to place spoofing and jamming.

Instead, Russia was disrupting GPS systems to “test NATO’s response,” he said.

“NATO is utilizing a batch of GPS tooling and instrumentality to fly, to guideline nan bombs,” he said, adding that specified interference tin besides impact mobile devices and services specified arsenic Google Maps.

“In Poland aliases nan Baltics aliases successful Sweden, relying connected GPS successful your car, successful your navigation system, it’s not ever nan smartest point to do,” he said.

“It is simply a cleanable maneuver to fto nan force cognize that you are successful power of things that they usage connected a regular basis.”

Freddie Clayton reported from London, and Andy Eckardt from Mainz, Germany.