The Swedish Transport Agency tells SVT that it received the first reports from civil aviation in southern Sweden that the GPS navigation system had been switched off, on December 18 last year. The plane must instead rely on ground-based navigation.
In the following days, what is now described as the biggest disruption to GPS systems in the Baltic Sea area will take place. In addition to Sweden, parts of Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries are affected.
The climax occurs on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and even on New Year’s Day, some disruptions appear to persist, according to the site GPSJAM.
Russia is singled out
According to lieutenant colonel Joakim Paasikivi at the Norwegian Defense Academy, it is likely that Russia is behind the sabotage, although this has not been clarified.
– That the Russian side disrupted communications up in the north during the protection of Murmansk, or to disrupt NATO exercises – that is old. This is new – and big, says Joakim Paasikivi.
So what does Russia get out of these kinds of attacks?
– I think that this is part of the Russian method of trying to influence us in so-called hybrid warfare, that is, that you constantly stay at a level lower than conflict. I think it can be a way for Russia to create uncertainty and show strength, says Joakim Paasikivi.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that their Baltic Fleet’s electronic warfare unit practiced successfully with 100 soldiers and some 20 military units in Kaliningrad in the days before Christmas.
The aim has been to suppress what is called “enemy navigation and radio communication”. Both civilian and military targets must have been included in the exercise.
The Swedish Defense Radio Agency, FRA, does not currently want to comment on the disruptions to SVT, but the Swedish Transport Agency confirms reports of disruptions from air traffic.
– Sweden has not been affected that much, but we are following the situation carefully, says Johan Westin, flight inspector at the Swedish Transport Agency.