It has been reported that failures in GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation signals have been observed in parts of Finland, a new member of NATO.
The disruption of signals used by drivers as well as pilots follows previous GPS jamming that prompted speculation of Russian involvement, but there is no evidence that Moscow was behind the latest incident.
According to Finnish news agency YLE News, the Finnish Transport and Communications Authority (Traficom) announced that a GPS failure was detected in eastern and southeastern Finland on Sunday.
The confusion was discovered on the GPSjam website and the administrator John Wiseman explains them in Xpreviously tweeted, “In unprecedented ways; [number] Number of aircraft affected and size of area affected. The Baltic Sea is certainly exciting these days. ”
New GPS interference has occurred over Finland in the past 24 hours. It is unprecedented in terms of the number of aircraft affected and the scale of the area affected. The Baltic countries are certainly exciting these days… https://t.co/sHcnuXYWXy
— John Wiseman (@lemonodor) January 1, 2024
“Although it has subsided over the past 24 hours, significant disturbances still occur that are not normally seen in this part of Finland,” Wiseman said in a follow-up message.
Jari Pontinen, head of aviation at Trafficcom, said the GPS failure would not affect the safety of the flight as the plane is equipped with other navigation systems.
Pontinen did not comment on whether Russia was involved, but said such disruptions usually occur near conflict areas.
“There is turmoil in the Middle East, in the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad, in the Black Sea region and near Israel,” Pontinen said.
John Tis/Getty Images
When asked for comment by newsweek, Traficom said in a statement that it receives information about GPS signal interruptions through occurrence reports provided by aircraft operators and air navigation service providers.
“However, the data provided to Traficom in the outbreak report does not allow us to analyze the explanation for the interruption,” the statement added.
Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Benoît Roturier, head of satellite navigation at the French aviation safety authority Directorate General for Civil Aviation, revealed that he was behind the GPS jamming incident that affected planes over Finland. He said Russia is there.
He told Bloomberg in April 2022 that the purpose at the time was not to disrupt civil aviation, but was likely a side effect of military equipment protecting troops from GPS-guided missiles.
Tensions between Helsinki and Moscow have been high since Finland joined NATO in April 2023, with Helsinki accusing Russia of sending refugees to its border and sparking a migrant crisis, while the Kremlin denies this claim.
Last week, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said Helsinki’s entry into NATO in April would make Finland vulnerable in the event of hostilities erupting between the alliance and Moscow.
in a statement to newsweekFinland’s Foreign Ministry responded to Ulyanov’s comments by saying that joining the alliance was a response to “Russia’s war of aggression and its impact on the European security environment.”
“There is currently no direct military threat to Finland. Finland continues to provide strong support to Ukraine,” the statement added.
Updated 1/3/24, 9:59 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from Traficom.
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