WAR IN THE AIR Thousands of Brit holiday flights attacked by ‘extremely dangerous Russian jamming’ in major threat to air safety

THOUSANDS of British holiday flights have been hit by suspected Russian jamming — with aviation sources branding the tactic “extremely dangerous” and a major threat to air safety.

The electronic attacks render satnavs useless so aircraft are unsure of routes and struggle to tell others where they are.

Suspected interference to flights from Vladimir Putin's forces includes jamming and spoofing
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Suspected interference to flights from Vladimir Putin's forces includes jamming and spoofingCredit: AP
Ryanair said that if location systems such as GPS are not functioning, the crew switches to alternate systems
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Ryanair said that if location systems such as GPS are not functioning, the crew switches to alternate systemsCredit: Getty

Bogus data forced planes to swerve and dive to avoid phantom obstacles that were not really there.

Industry sources warn it is extremely dangerous.

In eight months to the end of March, 2,309 Ryanair flights and 1,368 Wizz Air planes logged satnav problems in the Baltic region.

Also hit were 82 British Airways flights, seven from Jet2, four EasyJet flights and seven operated by TUI.Interference from Vladimir Putin’s forces includes jamming and spoofing.

Jamming drowns out genuine signals from satellites including GPS and Europe’s Galileo system.

Spoofing uses bogus signals to trick aircraft into thinking they are somewhere they are not.

An industry source said: “The information from the Russians is spurious. It is extremely dangerous.”In January Europe’s air safety watchdog described jamming and spoofing as “attacks” but did not say who was behind them.

The European Aviation Safety Agency held a summit with the global body representing airlines to counter the threat.Luc Tytgat, boss of EASA, said: “We have seen a sharp rise in attacks on these systems, which poses a safety risk.”

The Sun was on board an RAF jet with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps last month when it was jammed as it flew through Poland, near Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave.

A map showing the flights where Russian jamming is suspected to have taken place
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A map showing the flights where Russian jamming is suspected to have taken place

An aide blamed Russia for the “wildly irresponsible” attack.

Passengers are normally unaware if their jet is being jammed.

But The Sun joined forces with researchers at GPSJAM.org to analyse public flight logs.

Aircraft send Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcasts to let others nearby and controllers know where they are.

These signals include an ­estimate of how well the satnav is working. Poor performance indicates jamming or spoofing.

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