MADRID (Reuters) -A Spanish military jet with Defence Minister Margarita Robles onboard experienced a GPS disturbance early on Wednesday as it flew near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave on its way to Lithuania, the ministry said, without providing further details. As well as Robles, the plane was carrying relatives of Spanish airmen who form part of the […]
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Spanish defence minister’s jet suffers GPS disturbance near Russia’s Kaliningrad
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MADRID (Reuters) -A Spanish military jet with Defence Minister Margarita Robles onboard experienced a GPS disturbance early on Wednesday as it flew near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave on its way to Lithuania, the ministry said, without providing further details.
As well as Robles, the plane was carrying relatives of Spanish airmen who form part of the NATO air defence mission on its eastern flank. The mission was launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones that violated its airspace.
The Spanish contingent, known as the Vilkas mission, from the Lithuanian word for wolf, last week intercepted eight Russian aircraft operating over the Baltic Sea, Spain’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
“There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
“It must be common on this route and also with commercial flights. It is not because it is our aircraft,” they added.
Robles was due to hold a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Siauliai airbase on Wednesday, the Spanish government’s agenda showed.
The incident follows another in which the GPS system of a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was jammed while en route to Bulgaria on August 31.
A European Union spokesperson said Bulgarian authorities suspected the incident was due to interference by Russia.
Estonia and neighbouring Finland have also blamed Russia for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace. Russia has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks.
Finland’s military has said Russia uses GPS jamming in the region to protect Russia’s Baltic Sea oil ports, military sites and other strategic assets from Ukrainian drone attacks.
Most modern airliners have sensors and sources to determine their positioning, in addition to GPS, meaning they can fly if there is interference.
A commander onboard the Spanish plane told reporters travelling with Robles that such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad for civilian and military aircraft, and that the Spanish plane could also navigate using military satellites.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo, writing by Charlie Devereux, editing by Aislinn Laing and Barbara Lewis)