Nordic countries are struggling to fly planes because Russian jamming is screwing with GPS: report

Norwegian soldier Vegard Aalbretsen looks through binoculars out towards the Russian border from Korpfjell’s OP tower (observation post) in Kirkenes, northern Norway, on February 24, 2022. ANNIKA BYRDE via Getty Images

• Countries bordering Russia in northern Europe are reporting GPS jamming, The Barents Observer said. 
• Russian electronic warfare is believed to be responsible, the report added. 
• Russia is intensifying “hybrid warfare” tactics against the West, officials have warned. 

Russian electronic warfare appears to be jamming GPS for ships and planes in the far north of Europe.

GPS disturbances have been recorded almost every day this year in the Arctic Circle region where Norway and Finland border Russia, Dagens Næringsliv reported, citing the Norwegian Communication Authority.

The Barents Observer said that incidents of GPS jamming nearly doubled after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with 122 recorded in that year and 294 in 2023.

It added that GPS disturbances were reported by airliners and air ambulances flying from Kirkenes and other towns in the far northeast of Norway.

Kirkenes is around a 15-minute drive from the Russian border and has long been at the center of a Norway-Russia spy war, according to The Telegraph.

The Norwegian Communication Authority did not immediately respond to a request by Business Insider for comment.

The disturbances come as Russia deploys electronic warfare units to fend off Ukrainian drone attacks on its cities, airports, and oil and gas industry in the far north of the country.

GPS coordinates are used by commercial and rescue operations vessels around the world to navigate.

Electronic warfare units are able to scramble the coordinates used to guide drones to their targets, the reports said, and are affecting GPS coordinates across the whole region.

According to reports in Russia, the signals are so strong Russia is turning off the internet in some regions to prevent interference.

Some security officials believe that the interferences are part of deliberate tactics by Russia to intimidate NATO countries.

Joakim Paasikivi of the Swedish Defense University told Swedish broadcaster SVT  last year said the disturbances were part of a deliberate Russian “hybrid warfare” strategy to subvert NATO countries.

Police and national authorities told the Barents Observer that GPS jamming could impact emergency services.

“We depend on good GPS signals to quickly locate areas with people missing in extreme weather like we have today,” Deputy Chief of Police Trond Eirik Nilsen with Finnmark Police District said to the publication.

Business Insider reported in January that planes in Poland and the Baltic region were experiencing GPS disturbances, which some officials said might be linked to Russian electronic warfare units in its Kaliningrad enclave.