Russian electronic warfare systems from Kaliningrad jam GPS over Poland and the Baltic Sea
Over some European countries bordering the Kaliningrad region of Russia, GPS signal failures for airplanes are being recorded. The researchers believe that the problem originates from the electronic warfare base located in Kaliningrad.
Marcus Johnson, a member of the Mastodon Research Network, wrote on Twitter reported that since December 15, aircraft have been experiencing navigation errors over the southern part of the Baltic Sea.
I think I found the location of the Baltic Jammer. In Kaliningrad, Russia.
Since Dec 15 aircrafts have suffered from navigation errors over south Baltic Sea, on and off.
By plotting an assumed max jamming-range for each bad position there is one area standing out: Kaliningrad. pic.twitter.com/EgT6mcoZU4
— Markus Jonsson (@auonsson) January 3, 2024
Many commentators also shared their research results, where they agreed with Marcus.
Aircraft flying less than 300 kilometers to Kaliningrad face navigation problems.
Also, at the end of 2023, namely on Christmas Day, the Russians “congratulated” the jamming of the GPS signal in many EU countries. This was written by gpsworld.com.
Parts of Poland, Lithuania, southern Sweden and other countries in the Baltic region received an unexpected Christmas gift. GPS signals were interrupted and unavailable in many areas on December 25 and 26. Poland, the northern two-thirds of the country, was particularly affected, and many users on the ground and in the air had to do without reliable communication.
On New Year’s Eve, some areas of Finland also experienced significant disruption. The most noticeable impact of the holiday events was observed in aviation and reports of low navigational integrity from ADS-B systems.
Scientists and researchers write that Russian electronic warfare not only jams GPS signals, but also replaces them in such a way that the aircraft “thinks” it is in the wrong place and corrects its position.
After takeoff and climb, the aircraft are controlled by an autopilot, which “guides” the aircraft mainly by a GPS signal between navigation marks that have clear coordinates. Therefore, first of all, the disappearance or substitution of the GPS signal can lead to very unpredictable situations and threaten the safety of civil aviation.
