Early on Wednesday, September 24, a Spanish military jet transporting Defence Minister Margarita Robles reportedly encountered a GPS disturbance while flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave en route to Lithuania.
Also onboard were relatives of Spanish airmen participating in NATO’s eastern air defence mission. The Vilkas mission—launched earlier this month after Poland shot down drones violating its airspace—recently intercepted eight Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea.
Providing few details, a brief Defence Ministry statement asserted:
There has been an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal, but as our aircraft has an encrypted system, it was not affected.
It added that such incidents are common on this route, affecting civilian and military flights alike. A commander onboard confirmed the plane could navigate using military satellites.
Robles was scheduled to meet her Lithuanian counterpart Dovilė Šakalienė at the Šiauliai Air Base later that day.
The incident follows a GPS warning involving European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s aircraft on August 31st. Bulgarian authorities dismissed claims of Russian interference, citing minor technical GPS issues. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stated there was “no evidence” of prolonged interference affecting the plane’s landing at Plovdiv airport.
Estonia and Finland have also reported GPS disruptions in the region, which Finland says Russia uses to protect strategic sites and Baltic Sea oil ports. Russia denies interfering with satellite or communication systems.
