Russia 'jams signal' on RAF plane carrying Grant Shapps in 'wildly irresponsible' act

The Cabinet minister’s aircraft reportedly had its GPS signal interfered with while flying close to Kaliningrad
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps visited Poland on Thursday
PA Wire
Daniel Keane14 March 2024

Russia has been accused of jamming the satellite signal on a RAF aircraft used by defence minister Grant Shapps in a “wildly irresponsible” attack.

The Cabinet minister had been travelling back to the UK from Poland during the alleged incident.

The GPS signal on his aircraft was interfered with for about 30 minutes while the plane flew close to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, a Government source told Reuters.

Mobile phones could no longer connect to the internet and the aircraft was forced to use alternative methods to determine its location, they said.

However, it is understood that the jamming did not affect the safety of the aircraft and the pilot was able to navigate by other means.

A defence source told The Times: “While the RAF are well prepared to deal with this, it still puts an unnecessary risk on civilian aircraft and could potentially endanger people’s lives. There is no excuse for this and it’s wildly irresponsible on Russia’s part.”

Russia has previously targeted RAF planes with GPS jamming, including aircraft flying from UK military bases in Cyprus.

Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets, A400M transport aircraft and Voyager troop planes were attacked in 2021 as they departed RAF Akrotiri on the Mediterranean island.

Poland and other Baltic countries have also reported GPS interference in recent months following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Mr Shapps had been returning from a visit to a military training site in Orzysz, which lies just 168km from the Russian province on the Baltic coast, where he observed troops taking part in the Steadfast Defender, Nato’s largest military exercises since the Cold War.

During the visit, he called for the inclusion of a 3 per cent target for military spending as a proportion of GDP in the Conservatives’ election manifesto, saying: “I want a bigger budget.”

He also called for an overhaul of recruitment, including an end to certain medical requirements and a lifting of the ban on soldiers growing beards, the Daily Mail reported.

Mr Shapps said: “I have coined the phrase ‘moving from post-war to pre-war’. We have to be much better prepared.

“Defence is the best way to protect ourselves against a military conflict – you have to show your adversaries – so I am clearly in favour (of a 3% target). We live in a more dangerous world, we’ve got Putin on the front line making gains.”

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