Since the full-scale war initiated by Russia in Ukraine in 2022, GPS signal disruptions have significantly increased. According to the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA), the disturbances spread to Estonia from the Leningrad Oblast area in Russia.

"We receive 10-20 reports daily from pilots that in certain areas over Estonia, there are GPS disruptions," said Ivar Värk, CEO of Estonian Air Navigation Services.

Due to GPS disruptions, there have been no incidents with airplanes because aircraft are equipped with multiple navigation systems. In Estonia, no airplane landing has been cancelled due to GPS interference, Värk explained.

An alternative navigation network has been operational over Estonia since March of this year. "We started its creation in 2020, back then nobody knew anything about these GPS disruptions," Värk stated.

Värk explained that GPS is the most convenient navigation system for pilots. Hobby drones fly with GPS, but there have been no disturbances at lower altitudes. Therefore, so-called home devices also operate without interference.

Disrupting GPS operations is one of Russia's alternative methods of warfare, and likely, their goal is to disrupt attack drones, Värk explained. "One can speculate that their goal is to disturb those drones that have caused some harm on Russian territory, especially in the south. They're preempting threats from the north."

"The disruptions have become more frequent and their scale has increased; what happens next – I cannot say," Värk stated. He added once more that commercial air traffic has not been affected by the disruptions.

TTJA: Disturbances originating in Leningrad Oblast

TTJA has observed an increase in GPS disruptions in Estonian airspace since last June. While last year the disruptions were only detectable over the northeastern part of Estonia's airspace, since the beginning of 2024, the area of disruptions has partially expanded to include the Gulf of Finland and Central Estonia, Erko Kulu, head of the frequency management department of TTJA's communications department, told ERR.

The GPS disruptions detectable in Estonia's airspace still emanate from the Leningrad Oblast region, Kulu explained.

The website gpsjam.org is involved in monitoring GPS disruptions.

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