(Bloomberg) -- Finland is investigating whether Russia recently interfered with global positioning system signals in Lapland, endangering civilian air traffic, Prime Minister Juha Sipila said.
Air Navigation Services Finland warned pilots of unstable GPS signals in northern Finland on Nov. 6, broadcaster YLE reported on Friday. The warning coincided with so-called Trident Juncture war games by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its partners, including Finland.
“It's possible Russia was behind the interference,” Sipila said in an interview on YLE Radio Suomi. “We're now investigating it and will react accordingly. It's no small matter, since civilian flights have been put in danger.”
The incident should be taken as seriously as air space violations, Sipila said. He characterized GPS jamming as a relatively new tactic, and expects to see more of it going forward. Similar events have occurred a couple of times, each time during military exercises, with the intention of “displaying capability,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Brian Wingfield
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