Grant Shapps’ plane ‘HAPPED by Putin’s forces’ disables GPS and communications as Defense Sec flew back from NATO war exercises
RUSSIA jammed the signals on Defense Secretary Grant Shapps’ plane, RAF pilots suspect.
The GPS and other signals were blocked for almost 30 minutes due to an “electronic warfare” attack.
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It happened when Grant Shapps flew past Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering Poland.
The Sun’s defense editor, Jerome Starkey, was aboard the RAF Dassault Falcon 900 at the time.
Shapps, a qualified pilot, was assured that the electronic warfare attack would not affect the safety of the plane.
He was flying back from Poland’s Szymany Airport after visiting British troops taking part in Steadfast Defender, the biggest NATO war games since the end of the Cold War.
A defense source branded the outage as ‘extremely irresponsible’.
She said: “While the RAF is well prepared to deal with this, it still poses an unnecessary risk to civilian aircraft and could potentially endanger human lives.
“There is no excuse for this and it is largely irresponsible on Russia’s part.”
The plane, decorated with Union Jack colors, flew within 60 miles of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on its journey to RAF Northolt.
The outage also affected the aircraft’s satellite internet communications.
Officials said they did not suspect Shapps’ plane had been singled out.
They said Russia routinely interferes with satellite communications and signals that can affect all aircraft and GPS devices.
It follows that in 2021 the Russians disrupted the GPS of aircraft at the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
Pilots of A400 transport aircraft regularly reported GPS glitches when they landed at the base.
In all cases RAF pilots were able to return to alternative fail-safe systems.
The attack came after Shapps spoke in Poland on Wednesday and warned that Britain should do the same spend billions more on defense to save themselves from World War III.
The defense chief said he was “clearly in favour” of it increasing defense spending up to three percent of GDP.
Current UK spending is 2.27 percent, while the government has committed to reaching 2.5 percent if conditions allow.
Mr Schapps And Jeremy Hunt both pledged to increase defense spending to three percent by 2022 Tory leadership race.
Amid ongoing threats from Russia And Chinasaid Mr Shapps: “It’s a more dangerous world now.
“Defense is the best way to protect ourselves.
“You have to show your opponents, so I am clearly in favor.”
He said the cost of defeating Russia was “cheap at half the price.”
Shapps also warned that the the world is more dangerous nowmaking expenditure even more urgent.
He said: “I have spoken in the past about the need for 3 percent, before I was Defense Secretary.
“I really believe it’s a more dangerous world.
“We have to be much better prepared. Defense is the best way to protect ourselves against military conflict. You have to show your opponents, so I am clearly in favor of it.”
This is not the first time that deranged tyrant Vladimir Putin has used electronic warfare to cause chaos across Europe.
Early February Russia similarly blocked GPS technology on flights and ships spread across the eastern flank of NATOresulting in serious disruption.
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