The number of GPS signal disruptions in Latvian air space increased two times last year, as reported by “Ir” magazine.
“Ir” references data from the Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) and reports that in 2023, aircraft pilots reported 342 cases of GPS signal disruptions. Last year, on the other hand, the number of such reports reached 707 times, including a record number of 179 cases reported in a single month (December).
CAA explains that GPS signal disruptions started after February 2022, when Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine.
According to the magazine, there are two types of GPS signal disruptions. The most common type is signal interference.
Signal spoofing is rarer and requires special equipment to pull off.
Security experts say that Russia has at least ten “Tobol” GPS signal disruption installations within its territory, including one in Kaliningrad Oblast. Two of the biggest sources of signal disruption are Kaliningrad and Smolensk.
Jānis Krištops, Chief of he Security Office of Latvian national airline airBaltic, told the magazine that in November 2024, GPS disruptions had impacted approximately every third airBaltic flight. A lot of signal disruptions were recorded in March 2024. Data for December, on the other hand, is still in the process of compilation. Nevertheless, it is possible there may have been a new record that month.
At the same time, he stressed that aircraft pilots are prepared for a wide variety of scenarios, including interference with satellite signals during flight and that if satellite navigation disappears, pilots use conventional navigation.
The fact that there has been a significant increase in disruptions to global navigation systems during this time has also been confirmed by the European Aviation Safety Agency. The number has grown rapidly not only over the Baltic Sea, but also in the vicinity of other conflict zones – the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Middle East and the Arctic.
“The correlation with the war in Ukraine is visible,” said Lauris Labanovskis, head of the Radio Monitoring and Control Department of the state LLC “Electronic Communications”. Episodically, problems have appeared even before the invasion, and since then the situation has only worsened. According to him, in 2024 the number of GPS signal interference worldwide has increased by 65% compared to the previous year.
The magazine “Ir” notes that online open data maps show that in our region the signal interference of satellite navigation systems is most concentrated in wide circles around Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg, affecting the Baltic Sea, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.