As reported by the online media Suspilne.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, GPS jamming cases in the EU have become more frequent. Today, around 40% of flights across Europe are subjected to jamming or signal distortion.
According to Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, such phenomena are being recorded in several countries, and overall this points to increasing threats to air navigation.
“In my country, Lithuania, during August alone our authorities registered about 1,000 cases where aircraft were subjected to interference. This is the reality. When we were traveling with the President of the European Commission, our plane became a target of interference”
The EU’s goal is to make navigation more transparent and resilient. To that end, the publicly regulated Galileo service – the European navigation system with encrypted signals available to government users.
“In addition, we are developing space-based capabilities to detect interference and spoofing to warn our pilots and other users of positioning services about entering a zone where interference is highly active”
On September 1 it emerged that a plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen was forced to land in Bulgaria due to GPS disruptions; the European Commission confirmed the incident. A spokesperson noted that GPS jamming was observed during the flight.
“There was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this occurred due to deliberate interference by Russia. We are, of course, aware of and accustomed to the threats and intimidation that are a regular component of Russia’s hostile behavior”
The EC and member states are strengthening cooperation to increase the resilience of civil aviation and reduce the impact of threats on navigation, continuing the development of Galileo and early warning systems, and fortifying data sharing among EU countries.
Current EU steps to protect air navigation
The EU continues to advance Galileo, implement early-warning systems, and strengthen cooperation among member states to boost the resilience of navigation services against external influences.
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