Image: Shutterstock
What’s New: Political officials in the Baltic speaking out about jamming and pinning the blame on Russia.
Why It’s Important: This is the first instance we know of wherein political appointees have spoken out and blamed Russia. This is an escalation in the response to almost four months of pretty intense jamming.
What Else to Know:
- Air disasters have NEARLY happened because of interference. The Sun Valley incident in 2019 and the aircraft that nearly strayed into Iran’s airspace are two examples. That is why international aviation groups have long sounded the alarm.
- Recently the head of the Swedish Navy broke official silence by speaking out and blaming Russia.
- The countries mentioned in the article are NATO members. If they can convince other members they are being attacked, it could result in a NATO response.
Russian GPS jamming threatens air disaster, warn Baltic ministers
Interference with navigation signals blamed on Moscow has forced two Finnish flights to turn around mid-journey
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here.
https://www.ft.com/content/37776b16-0b92-4a23-9f90-199d45d955c3
Baltic ministers have warned that GPS jamming blamed on Russia risks causing an air disaster after the interference with navigation signals forced two Finnish flights to turn around mid-journey. The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all warned separately at the weekend of the dangers of GPS jamming across the Baltic Sea region, which has increased in recent weeks. On Thursday and Friday, two Finnair flights from Helsinki to the Estonian city of Tartu were forced by the GPS jamming to turn around and return to Finland as they were unable to navigate safely to their planned destination. “If someone turns off your headlights while you’re driving at night, it gets dangerous. Things in the Baltic region near Russian borders are now getting too dangerous to ignore,” Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/37776b16-0b92-4a23-9f90-199d45d955c3
