RAF Jet Carrying Defence Secretary Suffers Signal Jamming Near Russian Border

A Royal Air Force (RAF) jet, with Defence Secretary John Healey on board, experienced signal jamming as it operated near the Russian border earlier this week. The incident occurred on Thursday while Healey was returning to the UK after engagements with British forces in Estonia, as reported by The Times.

Russia is the suspected perpetrator of the jamming, which disabled the aircraft's GPS for three hours, compelling pilots to rely on a different navigation system. It remains unconfirmed whether Healey's flight was specifically targeted, although the aircraft's route was reportedly discoverable on public tracking platforms.

This event follows closely on the heels of another incident last month, where two Russian warplanes conducted "repeatedly and dangerously" close intercepts of an RAF surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea. During that encounter, a Russian Su-35 fighter reportedly approached close enough to an RAF Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft to activate its emergency systems and disable its autopilot. Additionally, a Su-27 jet executed six passes within six metres of the RAF plane's nose.

Healey had previously commended the "outstanding professionalism" of the RAF crew involved in these "unacceptable" Russian flybys. The Ministry of Defence had characterised the Black Sea incident as the most dangerous Russian action since 2022, when a "rogue" pilot discharged a missile at a Rivet Joint aircraft over the same region. A similar GPS jamming incident affected an RAF plane carrying then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in 2024, also in proximity to Russian territory.