Times: Russia may have jammed GPS signal on British Defence Secretary's plane

Russian authorities may have jammed the GPS signal on the plane of British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps as it flew near Russian territory.

Source. This was reported by the Times newspaper.

The incident occurred as Shapps was returning by a Royal Air Force Dassault Falcon from Poland, where he had observed large-scale NATO exercises.

Communication with satellites was lost for 30 minutes as the aircraft flew near Kaliningrad. As a result, the pilots were forced to use alternative methods to determine the aircraft's location.

The aircraft use several navigation systems, so they can continue to fly safely in the absence of a GPS signal, the Times writes.

"While the RAF is well prepared to deal with this problem, it still puts civilian aircraft at unnecessary risk and could potentially endanger lives. There is no excuse for this, and it is extremely irresponsible of Russia," a defence source said.

Military aircraft taking off from Britain's Akrotiri base in Cyprus regularly face interference from Russian equipment, which is likely to be deployed in Syria, but this rarely happens with high-ranking officials, the Times said.

A British government spokesman later confirmed to AFP that Shaps' plane had encountered temporary obstacles during the flight.

"This did not threaten the safety of the aircraft, and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS interference near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory," the spokesman added.

Shapps' plane was returning from attending NATO's largest military exercise since the Cold War, Resolute Defender. During the trip, the minister called for more funding for defence spending and criticised Putin's remarks about the possible use of nuclear weapons. According to Shapps, such rhetoric is "irresponsible" and Putin should "turn east and get out of the democratic country he decided to invade two years ago".