A Royal Air Force Falcon 900LX aircraft carrying British Minister of Defense Grant Shapps on an official trip to Poland on March 13, 2024, encountered a GPS system jamming near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The incident was initially reported by the Times newspaper whose reporter was on board and was later confirmed by the British Prime Minister’s office.
“While travelling back from Poland yesterday, the plane carrying the Defence Secretary and his delegation temporarily experienced GPS jamming when they flew close to Kaliningrad,” a government spokesperson said. “It didn’t threaten the safety of the aircraft and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS jamming near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory.”
It is currently unclear whether the British minister’s flight was targeted intentionally. The jammer was active in the region for almost an entire day and disrupted GPS readings for several hundred flights, as illustrated by GPSJAM, a website that collects reports regarding the accuracy of GPS readings from ADS-B transmissions.
Several European civil aviation authorities, including EASA, the French DGAC and the Finnish Traficom, have reported increased GPS signal disruptions affecting flights following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
EASA has identified four areas where GNSS jamming and/or spoofing has increased since February 24, 2022:
- Kaliningrad region, surrounding Baltic Sea and neighboring States;
- Eastern Finland;
- The Black Sea;
- The Eastern Mediterranean area near Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria and Israel, as well as Northern Iraq.
In 2022, the Royal Air Force received two Dassault Falcon 900LX, designated Envoy IV CC.1, and dedicated to short-haul transportation of VIPs, including government officials and the British Royal Family. The aircraft involved in this latest incident is registered G-ZAHS.