Tobol works by interfering with an aircraft’s wireless communications systems and using fake signals to trick pilots into believing they are in a different location.
“[These attacks] put an unnecessary risk on civilian aircraft and could potentially endanger people’s lives,” a defense source told Daily Mail Online.
Testing the Equipment?
Tobol is reportedly a large satellite dish strategically positioned at a Russian military site between Lithuania and Poland.
It is said to function as an invisible shield to protect Russian military bases from NATO’s satellite-guided missiles.
The EW system is designed to interfere with satellite signals and cause a weapon to miss its target.
Estonian Defense Forces Commander Martin Harem acknowledged the existence of such attacks but said he was unsure if Moscow wants to achieve something or is just testing its EW equipment.
Last month, the UK said a Royal Air Force plane carrying Defense Minister Grant Shapps had its signal jammed while flying near Russia.
Though the link to Tobol was not immediately established, the incident happened near Kaliningrad where the EW system is reportedly located.
Two of Finnair's planes were forced to turn around last week after their GPS signals were disrupted and they were struggling to land.
However, the aircraft are just the latest victims of Putin's electronic attacks that have already affected tens of thousands commercial flights.
- The electronic warfare can make satnavs useless, therefore pilots are unsure of routes and struggle to tell others where they are.
- Bogus data also forces planes to swerve and dive to avoid phantom obstacles that were not really there.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, electronic jamming has sharply increased in the Baltic region - but The Sun recently revealed it had spread across Europe.
Open-source analysts studying the positions of planes experiencing jamming believe it is originating from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania.
However, a new analysis suggests the black hole is elsewhere - mainland Russia.
A source with access to private data confirmed to The Economist that their is clear evidence of Russian jamming in that area.
It also corresponds to the location of several known Russian military sites.
There are also reports a top secret Russian jamming weapon known as "Tobol" is behind GPS interference on NATO's eastern flank.
It's not known if Russia is directly trying to interfere with commercial flights.
A likely reason is that the jamming signals are attempting to protect Russian military targets from the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks and civilian flights are a byproduct.
However, The Sun last week revealed a worrying, widespread pattern.
Russian jamming shows Putin 'knows no end to evil,' says Shapps
BY Jerome Starkey & Iona Cleave
DEFENCE Secretary Grant Shapps told The Sun's brand new World at War show that Russia's electronic jamming was "evil".
Mr Shapps said he "utterly condemned" Russia's jamming of thousands of commercial European flights and argued it was "irresponsible" for Moscow "to block GPS knowing that you're blocking civilian airlines".
He said the spoofing and jamming was again a clear example that "Putin just knows basically no end to his own evil is my view."
In response to the now widespread issue, Shapps revealed that the UK is developing systems for aircraft that do not rely on GPS to tell them where they are.
When pressed on whether this was needed for civilian aircraft, Shapps firmly answered: "Yes."
He added: "I could confirm, actually, that defence research and development is at the cutting edge of doing even more with this.
"And I imagine that in years to come, probably all aircraft will have many alternative versions of navigation for exactly this reason."
No comments:
Post a Comment