“FROM THE ANALYST”

15,000 FLIGHTS JAMMED BY RUSSIA

Q: Why are they doing it?
A: Because they can.

In essence the Russians are proving themselves to be a complete nuisance. It’s their way of making us uncomfortable and everything awkward for western airlines.
It’s simply a way of making it perfectly clear that while NATO may geographically and militarily control the Baltic Sea, there’s absolutely nothing they can do to prevent the active jamming of GPS from the Kaliningrad exclave.
The jamming is widespread.
It covers much of Poland and Lithuania, its effects can be felt over eastern Germany, parts of Denmark and much of south and east southern Sweden, as well as strips of the other Baltic states.
These areas are not the only ones.
Northern Norway and northern Finland are also affected where the Russian border meets Norway.
Civilian airliners are learning to cope with it. One way, oh sweet irony, has been to use Russian Glonass, but they started turning it off when they realised what was happening.
Instead, old fashioned map reading skills, and radio beacons have been put into service. There really hasn’t been much choice.
It has caused a few very minor incidents but as time goes on the effectiveness of the jamming is undermined by the effectiveness of the airlines in learning to cope with it.
It has affected military exercises and operations, yet strangely it’s also helped understand how these things really work and how to cope with them. It may be an inconvenience in the modern age, but it’s also been an interesting and important experience that’s taught everyone a sharp lesson about operating in an electronic warfare environment. In some ways we should thank the Russians for the warning and the lesson. And now we all know where the jamming is coming from, target locked!
It’s also an extraordinarily expensive thing to sustain. Putting that much energy out 24/7 day in day out is no cheap undertaking. You have to wonder if it’s really worth the hassle.

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
@ukrainejournal