Russian electronic warfare causes GPS disruptions in Poland and Baltic countries - ISW
Date: 2024-01-19 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Recently, large-scale failures in the operation of GPS systems were recorded in Poland and the Baltic region. This is likely a consequence of the operation of Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems in the region.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Polish radio station Radio Zet cited data from the GPS jamming tracking site GPSJAM on January 16. These indicated unprecedented levels of GPS jamming in Northern and Eastern Poland, including Warsaw and as far south as the city of Lodz.
These data also show similar high levels of GPS interference in the southern Baltic Sea and northwestern and central Poland between 25-27 December 2023 and 10 January 2024. Polish media believe that the disruptions in December could have been caused by unknown NATO military exercises in the Baltic region or by recent electronic warfare tests in the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.
The Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST) even opened a case on the facts of obstruction on January 12 in the context of electronic warfare exercises of the Russian Baltic Fleet. Swedish Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi believes that the situation with GPS is the result of “Russian influence activities or the so-called hybrid war.” According to him, the aggressor country has already interfered with GPS signals in Northern Europe in order to hide its activity in the Murmansk region or disrupt NATO exercises.
At the same time, according to Russian media, since mid-December 2023, units of the Russian Baltic Fleet have been training with the Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare system in the Kaliningrad region.
ISW analysts cannot independently verify the cause of high levels of GPS interference. However, they believe that Russian electronic warfare systems in the Kaliningrad region are really capable of such a significant influence on Poland and the Baltic region.
