Russia "jammed the signal" of the British Air Force plane carrying British Defense Minister Shapps - media

Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal of a British Air Force plane carrying Defense Secretary Grant Shapps from Poland in an "extremely irresponsible" act of electronic warfare, the British newspaper The Times reported on Thursday, UNN reported.

Details

"The GPS signal was interfered with for about 30 minutes as the plane flew near the Russian territory of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Mobile phones could no longer connect to the Internet, and the plane was forced to use alternative methods to determine its location," the newspaper writes.

The British Secretary of Defense, who was traveling on a Dassault 900LX Falcon with journalists from organizations such as The Times, was reportedly "assured that the electronic attack did not threaten the safety of the aircraft.

Experts said it was unclear whether Shapps himself was the target of a deliberate attack, although the flight path was visible to aircraft tracking websites.

The British minister was reportedly returning from a visit to a military training ground in Ożysz in northeastern Poland - a few hours' drive from Kaliningrad - where he watched hundreds of troops take part in Steadfast Defender, NATO's largest exercise since the Cold War.

Shapps, who has been the British defense secretary since August, had just accused President Putin of "gun slinging" and irresponsible actions by saying that Moscow was ready for a nuclear war.

A defense source said: "While the UK air force is well trained to deal with this, it still puts civilian aircraft at unnecessary risk and could potentially put lives at risk. There is no excuse for this and it is highly irresponsible of Russia.

The source of the GPS interference on Wednesday night was believed to be in Kaliningrad. GPS jamming equipment can be operated from aircraft, including drones, but is usually deployed on ground vehicles.

Planes taking off from the British Air Force's Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus are regularly blocked by Russian equipment, which is likely to be in Syria, although it is believed that planes carrying high-ranking officials are rarely hit, the newspaper points out. Typhoon jets, F-35 fighter jets, A400M transport aircraft and Voyager military aircraft were affected. Experts have warned that this type of activity indicates Russia's aggressive approach to the West.

Aircraft rely on multiple navigation systems and can therefore continue to operate safely even if GPS is blocked.

Addendum

During his one-day visit to Poland, Shapps said that Britain should spend 3 percent of its GDP on defense to protect itself, adding that his recent visit to Ukraine was a "wake-up call.

He said of Putin: "All that has to happen to solve this problem is that he has to go back east and leave the democratic country that he decided to invade two years ago. And this is the way to bring this whole thing to a conclusion.