Reuters: Finland tackles Russian GPS jamming by reintroducing ground-based navigation systems

Three airports in Finland have reintroduced radio navigation equipment to facilitate aircraft landings during periods when Russia interferes with satellite navigation, Reuters reports.

GPS jamming has been reported across Eastern Europe, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and Germany. While some experts argue this jamming could be a spillover effect from Russia’s combat operations in Ukraine, others view it as a deliberate attempt to undermine Western infrastructure and test NATO’s response capabilities. It involves the disruption of GPS signals over large areas, affecting both military and civilian operations.

Finnish authorities believe Russia is jamming signals used in satellite navigation (GNSS) and the global positioning system (GPS) in Finland and the Baltic Sea region to protect its oil ports and other strategic assets from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Two Finnish airports operated by Finavia, in the cities of Joensuu and Savonlinna, both about an hour’s drive from the Russian border, reintroduced upgraded ground-based radio navigation equipment in September. Another airport in Lappeenranta plans to do the same “as soon as possible.”

Henry Hansson, head of infrastructure and security at Finavia, stated that the radio-based distance measuring equipment, which was once widely used in aviation, provides an “alternative method of measurement” for aircraft during GPS jamming.

Finavia reactivated the equipment after two domestic Finnair flights to Joensuu were canceled in June and August due to GPS disruptions.

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom reported that various levels of GPS failures are detected daily in the country’s aviation, with most reports coming from southern Finland.

In April, Finnair suspended some flights to Tartu in eastern Estonia for a month due to similar issues but resumed them in June after the Estonian airport found a solution for aircraft landings that does not rely on GPS signals.

Estonia, in turn, accused Russia of violating international airspace regulations by interfering with GPS signals, according to UkrInform.

Earlier, Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen authorized the country’s Defense Forces to sign a framework agreement for the procurement of devices to protect against GPS disruptions.

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