Planes lose GPS signal – blames Russia

Bomber TU-160 Russia GPSThe Russian bomber airplane, TU-160 at the 2013 victory parade in Moscow. Photo: By Vitaly V. Kuzmin - http://vitalykuzmin.net/?q=node/498, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26283786

Passenger flights lose GPS signal – blames Russia

The last week, several passenger flights in Finnmark have lost GPS signal in the airspace between Kirkenes in Finnmark and Lyngen in Troms. The reason is assumed to be connected to Russian military exercises.

 

– We have reason to believe that this may be related to military exercises outside Norway’s borders, according to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority to The Barents Observer.

The Civil Aviation Authority has notified both airlines that have scheduled flights in the areas, as well as Avinor about the GPS signal disturbances. Both SAS and Norwegian fly daily routes to Kirkenes and Alta, while Widerøe has a number of aircraft servicing the local airports along the Finnmark coast.

Press Manager in Widerøe, Lina Lindegaard, confirms that one of their aircraft lost GPS signals at the start of this week, but emphasises that pilots have alternative procedures in such cases.

– There is no security risk associated with this. We have good routines, and this is not the first time we have experienced loss of signals, says Lindegaard, who does not want to speculate on the cause.

Four bomb sorties

At the same time as the ongoing Nato exercise Trident Juncture, Russia has carried four bomber sorties along the Norwegian coast in the last few days, the latest on Friday off the Norwegian coast near Stavanger, according to Aldrimer.no (Never Again). NOVA boss, Iver Neumann, denotes the Russian exercises as «ratling their guns» to the newspaper Dagbladet. The Russian Embassy in Norway emphasises that the sharpshooting exercises are normal practice.

«Activities planned by Russian Defence Forces in the near future, that Russia has informed of in advance, via the usual channels, is normal practice and conducted in accordance with international law,» the Russian Embassy writes.

Next week, the Russian Navy will conduct missile tests off the coast of Finnmark.

Destroys trust

The Russian Embassy writes in an email to Dagbladet that the ongoing Nato exercise Trident Juncture is destructive to trust.

– These manoeuvres are destructive to the trust and stability of the region. It is sad that these people’s opinions have not been taken into consideration by the official Oslo, it is stated in the reply from the Russian Embassy. They refer to the various demonstrations that have taken place lately in Norway against the ongoing NATO exercise.

«When it comes to Norwegians’ demonstrations against the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, which is taking place these days, then these people’s concerns are clear to us; they understand our reaction to an open provocation and that NATO’s offensive campaign potential is demonstrated near our borders,» the Russian Embassy writes.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today