Steph Deschamps / April 1, 2022
Since the invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, the Russian military has been jamming the satellite navigation systems of commercial aircraft that are close to combat zones, says Benoit Roturier, satellite navigation program director at France's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC).
Airline pilots have reported disturbances in areas near the Black Sea, eastern Finland and the Kaliningrad enclave. These disturbances appear to be caused by Russian vehicles equipped with GPS jamming systems to protect Russian troops and facilities from GPS-guided missiles. For the time being, I do not think that the goal is to disrupt civilian navigation, said Benoit Roturier, for whom it is rather a collateral damage.
This situation has not yet caused any major problems, but the Frenchman believes that Europe must put in place contingency plans in case all satellite systems can no longer be used.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) warned in mid-March against this phenomenon of GPS signal interference, due either to jamming of satellite positioning signals or to their spoofing.