A British Royal Air Force aircraft carrying UK Defence Secretary John Healey experienced signal jamming and a GPS blackout while flying near the Russian border last week, the defence ministry confirmed on Monday.
The Times first reported that the RAF jet lost its signal on Thursday as Healey was returning to the UK after visiting British troops stationed in Estonia.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the report to AFP, saying: “This is reckless Russian interference, but the RAF is well prepared to deal with this activity.”
However, the ministry did not specify who was responsible for the disruption or whether Healey’s aircraft had been deliberately targeted.
According to The Times, the plane’s GPS system remained disabled for the entire three-hour flight, forcing pilots to rely on backup navigation systems.
The newspaper, which had one of its reporters travelling with Healey, said electronic devices on board were unable to connect to the internet, while parts of the aircraft’s dashboard briefly malfunctioned.
The incident comes days after the MoD said two Russian fighter jets had “repeatedly and dangerously” intercepted a British surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea in April.
Healey condemned that incident as “dangerous and unacceptable” behaviour by Russian pilots in international airspace, adding that it would not “deter the UK’s commitment to defend NATO, our allies and our interests from Russian aggression”.
Officials said the Black Sea encounter was the most serious involving a UK Rivet Joint since 2022, when a Russian aircraft fired a missile near a British plane over the same region.
Relations between Russia and the UK are in deep freeze, with Britain one of the staunchest backers of Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
In 2024, an RAF plane carrying then-defence secretary Grant Shapps had its signal temporarily jammed near Russian territory on its return journey from Poland.
(With AFP inputs)
