Mysterious problems for planes flying over Sweden – “warning bell”

Mysterious problems for planes flying over Sweden – “warning bell”

Since Sunday, more than 1,600 flights have been affected by mysterious disturbances that appear to disrupt the planes' GPS functions.

Most are civilian flights and this has particularly affected flights over and around the Baltic Sea, the Daily Mail and Newsweek reported.

The problem is said to be greater in Polish airspace, but planes flying over Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania have also reported similar disturbances.

– Planes are being directed towards false GPS signals, quickly leading to a complete loss of navigation capability, confirms OPS, a pilots group in the Middle East, an area also affected, according to Newsweek.

– This is something we have never seen before.

Suspected Russia

GPS interference can easily have serious consequences because it can make pilots think they are in a completely different place than they actually are.

But strikingly, the problem appears to be minimal or even non-existent in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, as well as in Belarus, a staunch ally of the Russian dictatorship.

This issue also emerged earlier this year, and many are pointing to the possibility that Russia may be responsible for the unrest.

– Russia's skill in using electronic warfare is very strong, as Estonian General Martin Hirem confirmed to Bloomberg in January.

Great resources

Even Lithuania can confirm that Russia has significant resources that enable it to cause the kind of problems that have now worsened in recent days.

– The Russian Armed Forces have a wide range of military equipment dedicated to GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems, editor's note) jamming, including jamming and spoofing, at different distances, and with varying duration and intensity, a Lithuanian defense source said according to Daily. mail.

“A wake-up call for NATO”

A leading military expert also says, according to the British newspaper, that the ongoing unrest since Sunday should be seen as a “wake-up call” for the British military.

Melanie Garson, a lecturer in international security at University College London, says that Russia in particular has been at the forefront in this regard.

– They have had the opportunity to use it more concretely, and there is a real concern that NATO, in particular, is not matching this capability at the moment.

Photo by J. Rosolino

Text: Editors