The British Defense Secretary's plane was vulnerable to GPS jamming – The Times

The Dassault 900LX Falcon government jet, carrying British Defense Minister John Giley at the time of the Russian GPS signal jamming, was left defenseless against electronic warfare capabilities due to a deliberate decision by the government to save money. The government had opted not to install systems to protect against signal jamming in order to save up to 200 million pounds, although that decision is now being reversed. 

This was reported by The Times.

Experts noted that due to this cost-cutting measure, the aircraft remained vulnerable to a sudden attack. The cost-cutting occurred despite the fact that in 2024, a similar GPS jamming incident occurred on the same aircraft while then-Defense Minister Grant Shapps was on board, flying near the Kaliningrad region of Russia. Previously, British government officials had flown on BAe 146 aircraft equipped with appropriate protection, but these were taken out of service as part of a cost-cutting package.

The satellite signal on the VIP flight carrying John Healy, who was returning after visiting troops near the Russian border in Tartu, Estonia, was completely blocked for the entire three-hour flight. Due to the anomaly, passengers’ devices lost internet access, and the instrument panel in the cockpit began malfunctioning. As a result of the incident, the crew had to use inertial navigation systems to determine the aircraft’s exact location.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that Russia is engaging in aggressive actions against German space communications. In this regard, he called for increased investment in space infrastructure.

As a reminder, European Commission President von der Leyen commented for the first time on the incident involving the jamming of her plane’s GPS.

Additionally, in the first four months of 2025, more than 122,600 flights in northern Europe experienced jamming of GPS and other satellite systems.