Sweden Raises Alarm Over Russian GPS Jamming Threatening Baltic Aviation Safety

On Thursday, Swedish officials accused Russia of being responsible for an increase in GPS interference over the Baltic Sea, which has started to significantly disrupt aviation activities.

The Swedish Transport Agency reported that incidents involving global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), including GPS, in its airspace have risen dramatically from 55 last year to 733 so far this year.

Andreas Holmgren, the head of aviation at the agency, informed AFP, «After conducting analyses over an extended period and gathering data, we can determine that the source of this interference is Russian territory.»

The disruptions encompass both jamming, where signals are blocked, and spoofing, which involves the transmission of false positioning information. What began as interference in Sweden’s eastern airspace over international waters has now expanded to a broader region encompassing both land and maritime areas.

Holmgren commented, «This situation is serious and poses a security threat to civil aviation, particularly due to the scale, duration, and character of the interference.»

In June, Sweden, along with several Baltic Sea nations, brought the matter to the attention of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The ICAO Council, with Russia being a member, expressed «grave concern» and called upon Moscow to cease the interference.

The Swedish Transport Agency noted that the disruptions have intensified since that meeting. The nations involved, including Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, intend to raise this issue again at ICAO’s general assembly this autumn.

This alarm came just days after reports of GPS jamming involving a plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, as it approached landing in Bulgaria. Although the aircraft landed safely, EU officials attributed the incident to Russian actions.