GPS chaos in the Baltic: Aviation and maritime woes persist
Disruptions in the GPS system in the Baltic Sea have persisted for more than two months, affecting the navigation of aircraft and ships, as reported by Swedish media.
Ongoing GPS disruptions in the Baltic Sea, impacting the navigation of aircraft and ships, have been reported to continue for over two months. Swedish media outlets, including Expressen and Dagens Nyheter, highlight significant anomalies around Gotland Island and southern Öland. Deliberate GPS interference can seriously affect civil aviation and maritime activities.
On Thursday, a Ryanair flight from Luton to Vilnius was forced to abort due to GPS issues and landed in Warsaw. The Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson stressed that "the government is closely monitoring the situation and is maintaining close contact with Finland, the Baltic countries, NATO, and the EU."
Swedish authorities are working to strengthen resistance to GNSS disruptions, a term used for global navigation satellite systems.
Similar issues have been reported in northern Norway. The Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom) announced on Friday that GPS disruptions have been observed in the Kirkenes region near the Russian border. Disruptions are increasingly occurring at lower altitudes, backed by measurements from Norwegian experts.
GPS disruptions in the Baltic Sea and northern Scandinavian Peninsula have been ongoing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At that time, the Swedish military indicated Russian activities in the Kaliningrad region. Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi, a lecturer at the Swedish Defence Academy, suggested that these disruptions could be a form of "testing" by Russia as part of hybrid warfare strategies.
