Norway says Russia interfered with GPS signals during NATO exercise

Norway said on Tuesday that Russian armed forces in the Arctic region disturbed GPS signals during a recent NATO military exercise in Northern Europe, news agency NTB reported.

The Norwegian Ministry of Defence confirmed that the jamming took place between Oct. 16 and Nov. 7 and originated from Russian ground forces in the Kola Peninsula, the report said.

NATO held the Trident Juncture 2018 military exercise, its biggest drill since the end of the Cold War, between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7 in Norway and nearby areas.

"We follow closely the situation with relevant authorities. As previously known, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken the matter with the Russian authorities on previous occasions," the Norwegian Ministry of Defence said in an email to NTB.

Svein Johan Pedersen, department leader from the Civil Aviation, confirmed Monday to NTB that they had also noticed interference in GPS signals.

"The disturbances in the airspace have been marked in several cases where the GPS signals have been abnormally weak or have not been received during flights. The equipment in the airplane indicates immediately when GPS signals are missing", he said.

Online newspaper Barents Observer wrote in early November that passenger aircraft in Norway's northeastern county of Finnmark had experienced loss of GPS signals. Recently, aircraft in northern Finland have also experienced unstable GPS signals.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila has said the authorities were still investigating the issue and "it is possible that Russia is behind it."

A Kremlin spokesman on Monday denied knowledge of Russia's alleged role in the recent disruption to GPS signals in the Arctic region, according to Russia's Sputnik news agency.

"We have no knowledge of Russia's alleged role in GPS glitches. You should ask experts or the Defense Ministry. But there is an obvious trend to blame Russia for everything. As a rule, these accusations are baseless," Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying.