An RAF Dassault Falcon 900LX carrying the defence secretary, John Healey, experienced signal jamming for the entire three-hour flight after flying near the Russian border. Smartphones and laptops could not connect to the internet, and pilots had to rely on a different navigation system because GPS was disabled. The incident occurred while Healey returned to the UK after visiting British soldiers in Estonia and meeting the Estonian minister of defence in Tallinn to discuss long-term bilateral defence cooperation. It was unclear whether Healey was deliberately targeted, though the flight path was visible on aircraft tracking websites. The Ministry of Defence previously reported dangerous Russian interceptions of an RAF Rivet Joint spy plane over the Black Sea, including actions that triggered emergency systems and disabled autopilot.
"An RAF jet carrying the defence secretary, John Healey, had its signal jammed for the entire three-hour flight after it flew near the Russian border. Healey had been visiting British soldiers in Estonia and was travelling back to the UK when the electronic attack happened, the Times reported. It is thought Russia was behind the incident on Thursday. Smartphones and laptops were unable to connect to the internet and pilots had to use a different navigation system as the plane's GPS was disabled."
"It is unclear if Healey was deliberately targeted but the flight path was visible on aircraft tracking websites. Passengers, who included photographers and a reporter, were told the Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft could still operate safely. Healey had met the Estonian minister of defence, Hanno Pevkur, in Tallinn to discuss long-term bilateral defence cooperation and its strategic expansion."
"On Wednesday the Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed two Russian jets had repeatedly and dangerously intercepted an RAF spy plane above the Black Sea last month. A Russian Su-35 jet flew so close to the British reconnaissance aircraft that it triggered its emergency systems, including disabling the autopilot. A Russian Su-27 also flew six metres from the unarmed Rivet Joint's nose and carried out six passes in front."
"A Rivet Joint is a spy plane, with a crew of up to 30, capable of a wide range of electronic surveillance at a ranges of about 150 miles, and would have been monitoring Russian activity as part of a Nato patrol. In March 2024, an RAF plane carrying the then-defence secretary Grant Shapps had its GPS signal jammed while flying near Russian territory. The satellite signal was interfered with for about 30 minutes while the flight was heading back to the UK from Poland."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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