Airlines Report Russian GPS Jamming In Four Regions

The Russian military's jamming of airline satellite navigation is likely collateral damage from the war, a French aviation official reportedly said.

Kimberly Johnson

Friday, April 01, 2022 at 03:43 PM ET

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While the jamming can be a distraction for pilots, airlines have procedures in place for when GPS signals are lost. [File photo: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Russia's military is jamming airline satellite navigation near the Black Sea, eastern Finland, and Kaliningrad, using equipment designed to defend against GPS-guided munitions, which is causing "collateral damage" to civil aviation.
These intensified disruptions, also reported in the eastern Mediterranean and warned about by EASA, lead to significant navigation issues for aircraft, including loss of capabilities, terrain warnings, and potential rerouting or destination changes.
The situation underscores an urgent need for all European countries to prepare robust contingency plans for the loss of satellite navigation systems, particularly for those closer to conflict zones.

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According to a new report citing a French aviation official, Russia’s military is jamming airline satellite navigation near the Black Sea, eastern Finland and Kaliningrad, a small Russian province along the Baltic Sea located between Lithuania and Poland.

The satellite navigation disruption is being caused by Russian trucks with jamming equipment meant to defend Russian troops from GPS-guided munitions, Benoit Roturier, satellite navigation head of France’s civil aviation authority DGAC, told Bloomberg.