Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox
Get our free View from Westminster email
Russia is believed to have jammed the GPS signal on an RAF aircraft carrying Grant Shapps during a trip to Poland.
In what has been called a “wildly irresponsible” act of electronic warfare, the GPS signal of the plane was said to have been interfered with for half an hour while passing the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, which sits between Poland and Lithuania.
The attack left phones unable to connect to the plane’s WiFi and the plan forced to use other means of navigation available to the pilots, The Times reported.
The defence secretary was aboard an RAF Dassault 900LX Falcon jet, named Envoy. It is unclear if Mr Shapps himself would have been deliberately targeted, though his flight path was visible to trackers.
Mr Shapps was assured the attack did not threaten the safety of the plane.
A defence source told The Times: “While the RAF are well prepared to deal with this, it still puts an unnecessary risk on civilian aircraft and could potentially endanger people’s lives. There is no excuse for this and it’s wildly irresponsible on Russia’s part.”
More follows on this breaking story…