LONDON (AP) – Bulgaria will not investigate Russian electronic interference with a plane from a European official, officials said Monday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had flew to Probudiv, Bulgaria on Sunday when her plane was attacked by GPS interference. It landed safely, but the confusion was the latest in almost 80 incidents. Tracked by Associated Press Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, it has been denounced Russia by Western officials.
This year, Scandinavian and Baltic countries, including Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, have repeatedly warned of significant interference in electronic interference from Russia that disrupt communication with planes, ships and drones.
While Russian authorities have suggested that jamming is defensive to protect major cities and military infrastructure from drone attacks in Ukraine, Baltic officials say the depth of electronic interference has increased, leading to the failure of navigation far from the Russian border.
2024, The plane carrying the British Secretary of Defense was packed with satellite signals. While Finnish airlines are temporarily flying Flights to Estonia’s Tartu city suspend.
NATO Secretary General Mark Latte said The interference experienced by von del Reyen’s planes is part of a complex Russian campaign against Europe, and could have “potentially disastrous effects.”
How Jamming works
A satellite communication system, collectively referred to as the Global Navigation Satellite System or GNSS, receives accurate time signals from satellites that are approximately 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) in space. A smartphone, car, marine, or aircraft navigation system compares the amount of time it takes to calculate the exact location to receive signals from several different satellites.
However, signals can prevent what is commonly known as jamming or spoofing.
Jamming means that the receiver is overwhelmed by powerful radio signals sent within the same range as GNSS and other satellite navigation signals operate, and the receiver cannot modify the location or time. Spoofing involves sending false signals that mimic real GNSS satellite signals (commonly known as GPS) to mislead a phone, vessel or aircraft, and think it’s somewhere else.
In a military context, jamming can be used to stop the attack of incoming missiles or drones, but the idea behind the sporting is to “create a deceit,” said Thomas Wysington, an electronic warfare expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Israel could use spoofing technology to jump into Iranian airspace in June. Killed the top general and attacked the nuclear site.Withington proposed. Spoofing may have helped Israel to deceive Iran’s radar, he said.
Long before the Ukrainian invasion, Russian authorities deployed spoofing technology around the Moscow Kremlin, using taxi drivers or GPS to cause confusion among other drivers.
Russia “doesn’t mind” if its own infrastructure is affected, as long as its enemy’s activity is thwarted, Wysington said.
Fly without satellite navigation
In August, the Latvian electronic communications office said it had identified at least three hot spots for electronic interference along the border with Russia in the Kaliningrad, Leningrad and Pshkov regions. All three regions host important Russian military bases.
Finnare, national airline in Finland, April 2024 Temporarily suspended flight On Tartu, two planes prevented landing due to GPS destruction. At the time, Tartu Airport had to approach the plane to land using GPS, but the plane had other forms of navigation, but they used it.
These include radio navigation and inertial navigation systems. This determines where the aircraft or submarine is by measuring the position of air or water without relying on GPS.
Jamming and spoofing are common all over the world and will not be a problem for pilots to deal with, Withington said. But he suggested that they could undermine decision-making when other things are wrong.
In December, Azerbaijan Airlines denounced crash of the plane that killed 38 people Regarding unspecified “physical and technical interference.”
Azerbaijan said the aircraft was hit by a fire from the ground in southern Russia and was left out of control by electronic warfare.
Russian officials said at the time the aircraft was preparing to land at Grozny, where Ukrainian drones were targeting areas around the airport.
Expanded operations
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Ziyazkov said von der Leyen’s plane had not been specifically targeted and called Jam a “side effect” of the war in Ukraine.
Latvian electronics and communications office said it recorded 820 cases of interference with satellite signals in 2024 compared to 26 cases in 2022, warning that the affected areas have recently “expanded significantly.”
In response, the Baltic countries banned drone flights in some areas near the border with Russia, and warned civil drone pilots to assess signal stability before flight.
The Swedish maritime junta has received multiple reports of signal interference with Baltic vessels this year, and said in June it warned seafarers to use radar or landmarks for voyages.
In July, Lithuanian media reported that two German tourists accidentally flew a light aircraft to Russia and had to be led to Lithuania by experienced pilots.
While some states have complained about electronic interference with the International Civil Aviation Agency, Russian officials have rejected the complaint, suggesting that they are politically motivated.
Possibility of disasters
Jamming and spoofing were originally intended to protect Russian infrastructure, but authorities recognize that the tactics have a useful “second order of effects. This means that the national president (Vladimir) whom Putin recognizes as the enemy, is aware that he is the enemy,” Wysington said.
Countries along the Russian border appear to be mitigating the effects of Russian jamming clogged into the air, but there is a possibility of serious maritime incidents.
While crews should rely on radar, charts and GPS, just like GPS, “anecdotal evidence” suggests that some crews are “lazy” and rely on GPS, Withington said.
In that case, he said, “Potentially you could cause a disaster in your hands” if a large cargo ship crashed.
