Sweden says Russia behind surge in GPS jamming over Baltic Sea

[ad_1] Sweden has accused Russia of being behind a major rise in cases of GPS sign jamming recorded over the Baltic Sea, elevating considerations for aviation within the area.

The Swedish Transport Company (STA) mentioned experiences of disruptions have risen over the previous few years, however had now turn into an virtually day by day incidence. It recorded 733 incidents thus far in 2025, up from 55 throughout the entire of 2023.

The company mentioned the supply of the interference had been traced to Russian territory, and likewise affected transport. Different European nations have accused Russia of being behind the jamming, which Moscow denies.

The STA report comes days after a airplane carrying Ursula von der Leyen was hit by interference.

The pilots of the European Fee president's airplane reportedly needed to land utilizing paper maps, however did so safely.

Andreas Holmgren, the STA's head of aviation, warned the difficulty was "critical" and posed "a security danger for civil aviation".

In addition to seeing a large enhance in experiences, he mentioned cases of jamming had unfold "each geographically and in scope", going from being initially restricted to the jap elements of Swedish airspace over worldwide waters to Swedish land and waters.

Airways working within the Baltic area have reported tens of hundreds of GPS jamming incidents up to now few years. The Baltic states are bookended by Russian territory.

In June, Sweden and 5 different nations within the area - Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland - raised the difficulty with the Council of the Worldwide Civil Aviation Group (ICAO), of which Russia is a member state.

The ICAO Council expressed "nice concern concerning the state of affairs and is demanding that Russia fulfil its worldwide obligations and be sure that the disturbances stop instantly".

Regardless of this, disruptions within the Baltic Sea area "have as an alternative elevated", it added.

European governments and specialists recurrently blame Russia, claiming such practices match with an alleged Kremlin technique to typically sow dysfunction and undermine European safety.

Moscow recurrently denies accusations of interference or assaults on industrial aviation. No confirmed hyperlink has but been established between Russia and the rise in GPS jamming.

Von der Leyen's airplane had been heading to Bulgaria on Sunday when its onboard telemetry was disrupted as a result of what a spokesperson described as "blatant interference by Russia".

The European Fee mentioned the incident solely bolstered its dedication to "ramp up our defence capabilities and assist for Ukraine".

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times , which reported on the suspected jamming, that its data was "incorrect".

Bulgaria's aviation authority mentioned there had been a "noticeable enhance" in GPS incidents because the begin of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Whereas planes can depend on different types of navigation than GPS, jamming it mid-flight can enhance the chance of collisions - both with different planes or by inflicting the pilot to unintentionally fly into the bottom, water or different impediment.

However the UK's Civil Aviation Authority has performed down the importance of GPS jamming, says aircrafts' navigation techniques don't rely solely on GPS and so interference shouldn't have an effect on their direct navigation.

It provides that interference happens primarily close to battle zones as a by-product of navy exercise, somewhat than essentially being a deliberate act.

The STA's figures for 2025 cowl as much as 28 August. Whereas they embrace each Swedish and non-Swedish airways, the company cautions that they're thought of to be vital underestimates of the variety of reported incidents, as airways typically report incidents to their very own nation's aviation authority.