Spain To Reinforce Presence After GPS Disruption

A Spanish military A330 carrying Defence Minister Margarita Robles — and relatives of Spanish airmen serving with NATO’s Vilkas air policing mission — suffered a GPS disturbance while flying near Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave en route to the Siauliai air base in Lithuania. Spain’s defence ministry said there was an attempt to disrupt the GPS signal but the aircraft’s encrypted military navigation and onboard electronic-defence systems prevented any effect and the flight continued; Robles held a bilateral meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart after landing. Madrid said it would reinforce its presence in the region amid recent airspace and electronic-interference incidents, though a defence source cautioned such disruptions are common on that route and not necessarily targeted at the Spanish aircraft. Western officials have linked a string of recent GPS disruptions to Russia — including a suspected interference with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen’s plane and a surge of incidents reported in Sweden — while Moscow denies some of the accusations. The episode has been raised in international aviation fora as Baltic and Nordic countries warn that electronic interference around Russia’s borders is growing in scope and frequency.