Russia jams satellite signals on RAF plane carrying Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in 'wildly irresponsible' act of electronic warfare during visit to Poland
The Kremlin jammed satellite signals on an RAF plane carrying the Defence Secretary in a 'wildly irresponsible' act of electronic warfare following his visit to Poland.
Russia jammed the signals on Grant Shapps' plane as it flew near its Kaliningrad enclave yesterday.
The RAF Dassault Falcon 900's primary GPS system and its satellite communications were blocked for approaching 30 minutes.
The attack took place on his return journey from Poland. Details of the Defence Secretary's flight out to the UK's NATO ally was tracked on social media.
Mr Shapps was conducting a day trip to eastern Europe to meet UK troops taking part in Exercise Steadfast Defender – the biggest NATO manoeuvres since the Cold War.
![Russia jammed the signals on Grant Shapps' plane as it flew near its Kaliningrad enclave yesterday. He's seen yesterday during his visit to Poland](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/14/14/82467031-13197431-image-a-28_1710427625180.jpg)
Russia jammed the signals on Grant Shapps' plane as it flew near its Kaliningrad enclave yesterday. He's seen yesterday during his visit to Poland
![The RAF Dassault Falcon 900's primary GPS system and its satellite communications were blocked for approaching 30 minutes. File photo](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/14/14/62291235-13197431-The_RAF_jet_which_had_Prince_William_Prince_Andrew_Prince_Edward-a-29_1710427695957.jpg)
The RAF Dassault Falcon 900's primary GPS system and its satellite communications were blocked for approaching 30 minutes. File photo
The aircraft flew within 60 miles of Kaliningrad on its return journey yesterday evening having departed RAF Northolt in west London that morning.
Hundreds of commercial flights operating in the same airspace have reported similar problems in recent months as the Kremlin steps up its Electronic Warfare (EW) campaign against the West.
Without GPS, pilots lose their situational awareness – effectively, they are unaware of their location – which in a worse case scenario could cause a fatal collision.
According to UK defence sources there was no threat to Mr Shapps' aircraft yesterday as it is equipped with back-up systems which Russia failed to penetrate.
Typhoons, F-35 fighter jets, A400M transport aircraft and Voyager troop planes have all been affected. Experts have warned that this type of activity is indicative of Russia's aggressive approach to the West.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw has fortified its border with Kaliningrad, sandwiched on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. As Russia's only ice-free port on the Baltic, Moscow considers it vital to national security.
It comes as Mr Shapps backed calls for military spending to rise to 3 per cent of the nation's GDP, insisting: 'I want a bigger budget.'
In a bold move which put further pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last night, the Defence Secretary said more cash is needed to match the threat posed by Vladimir Putin.
As he travelled to Poland, a Nato partner which already spends 4 per cent of GDP on defence, he described his vision for a properly funded Armed Forces – including an overhaul of the 'ludicrous' recruitment process.
His call is a major boost for the Mail's campaign to increasing spending on Britain's military budget.
Currently the UK spends 2.27 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) on defence. Last night, Mr Shapps said he is in favour of spending three per cent and called for its inclusion in the Conservatives' general election manifesto.
He said: 'I have coined the phrase moving from post-war to pre-war. We have to be much better prepared.
'Defence is the best way to protect ourselves against a military conflict, you have to show your adversaries, so I am clearly in favour [of 3 per cent].
'Three per cent would be an issue for a future manifesto, for me that would be the way to go. It is to be thought about over the next parliament, for sure.
'We live in a more dangerous world, we've got Putin on the frontline making gains.'
![During his visit to Poland, Mr Shapps met with Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz to take part in the joint press conference and meeting on a military training compound](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/14/15/82438803-13197431-During_his_visit_to_Poland_Mr_Shapps_met_with_Polish_Defence_Min-a-30_1710428495713.jpg)
During his visit to Poland, Mr Shapps met with Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz to take part in the joint press conference and meeting on a military training compound
Mr Shapps advocated 3 per cent two years ago when he briefly challenged for the Conservative leadership.
But this is the first time he has repeated his demand since becoming Defence Secretary.
He added it was important to ensure there is 'sufficient military scale in the West that it makes sure that someone like Putin can't march into their democratic neighbour and take it over,' adding: 'I want a bigger budget.'
The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was challenged over defence spending yesterday during exchanges with the Commons Treasury committee about his budget last week, which delivered no new money for defence.
Mr Hunt told MPs: 'I do believe we will need to spend more on defence, I think the world is becoming more dangerous. It is patently evident that Russia and China want to upend the international order that has brought more peace and prosperity to the world than any other in the existence of humanity.'
The Chancellor said the Government had already 'done a lot' and was committed to raising spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
But he said 'further reforms' were needed to the notoriously wasteful system of defence procurement before more cash is allocated. And he said ministers and service chiefs needed to 'fully understand the implications of the war in Ukraine' before deciding on 'the type of thing we would need to invest in for the wars of the future'.
Mr Shapps said yesterday he is also drawing up plans to transform the Services' appallingly slow recruitment process, which routinely forces eager applicants to wait 12 to 18 months before finally beginning their training.
Medical criteria will also be torn up so candidates are no longer prevented from enlisting due to inherited genealogical conditions.
He also indicated the Army's centuries-old ban on most soldiers wearing beards is archaic and should be scrapped.
Mr Shapps said: 'You can be rejected for the most ludicrous reasons. Medical tests will ask about family history and if they think in 40 years' time you might develop some diseases, using actuaries, then they'll say you cannot serve today. When they're probably not going to be serving in 40 years' time.
![RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane have been flying near the Polish border](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/14/15/63671543-13197431-An_RAF_RC_135_Rivet_Joint_spy_plane_had_been_flying_over_interna-a-31_1710428895108.jpg)
RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane have been flying near the Polish border
'So we have got to have a far, far more sensible approach to this. Who cares if somebody has got a beard? Does that really mean you cannot fight, come on? We are living in the 21st century it is time to move on.
'The main thing we've got to do is ensure we don't put barriers in people's way. In this Amazon world, if you are a youngster applying for one of our Armed Forces and actually getting in to it takes six, 12, 18 months-time, you may have moved on to the next big thing by then.'
As our campaign to increase defence spending has run, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Indo-Pacific Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan have joined the Mail in demanding an immediate rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
Four former Defence Secretaries have also backed the Mail in calling for more cash for the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force: Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Sir Michael Fallon, Sir Gavin Williamson and Lord Hammond.
Research undertaken in 2022 by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said hitting 3 per cent by 2030 would require the government to invest about £157 billion by that year.
This would represent the biggest increase since the 1950s when the Korean War and the threat of the Soviet Union saw defence spending rise from 6.6 per cent in 1950 to 9.6 per cent in 1952.
Such a huge increase would also require the UK to expand its military industrial base and increase production volumes. The size of Britain's full-time Armed Forces would also rise, Rusi predicted, by as much as '25 to 30 per cent'.