Norway ‘has electronic proof’ that Russia jammed GPS signals between NATO troops during huge war games
- Norway claims it has proof that Russia jammed GPS signals during war games
- Norway’s Defence Minister says it has demanded an explanation from Moscow
- Trident Juncture drills were NATO’s largest military exercise since Cold War
- Held between October 25 and November 7, they involved some 50,000 troops
Norway claims it has electronic proof that Russian forces disrupted GPS signals before and during the large-scale NATO war games held in Scandinavia in November last year.
Both Finland and Norway accused Russia of intentionally disrupting GPS signals, which also affected the navigation of civilian air traffic in the Arctic, but Moscow dismissed the allegations.
Norway’s Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen has today said that they have handed over proof to Moscow, and have been told that it will be ‘reviewed’.
Norway claims it has ‘proof’ Russia jammed GPS signals during NATO’s Trident Juncture Operations last November. Pictured: A British soldier from the Royal Irish Regiment in a defensive position with an LMG in Elval, Norway during the war games
‘Russia asked (us) to give proof. We gave them the proof,’ Mr Bakke-Jensen told reporters, adding that this consisted of measurements showing signals had been jammed.
‘Russia said ‘thank you, we will come back when our experts review that’. To have such an answer from Russia is a positive thing,’ he said. ‘To be a neighbor of Russia you need to be patient.’
Asked whether Russia could have targeted Norway intentionally, the minister said: ‘They were exercising very close to the border and they knew this will affect areas on the other side.’
Finland is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) but took part in the Trident Juncture war games as an ally.
It was NATO’s largest military exercise since the Cold War, held between October 25 and November 7, and involved some 50,000 troops from 31 countries in an area stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland.
A British Army Foxhound (left) and a Land Rover (right) await Norwegian forces in Bryalden on October 31
Norwegian Home Guardsmen take up defensive positions during exercises in Elval on November 3
Norway’s defence ministry said that jamming took place between October 16 and November 7, and was registered as coming from ‘Russian land forces on the Kola Peninsula,’ a Russian region dotted with naval bases and restricted military zones.
The repeated allegations from Norway comes as hundreds of U.S. soldiers have begun arriving in Germany in the first test of a new rapid deployment strategy meant to bolster NATO’s presence in eastern Europe in the event of Russian aggression or other emergencies.
U.S. Army Europe says 350 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division arrived in Berlin Tuesday as part of a group of 1,500 arriving this week.
They’re heading to Poland, where they will link up with tanks and other heavy equipment, being brought in from a pre-positioned site in the Netherlands.
They will then conduct maneuvers with Polish forces.
The idea of the ‘dynamic force employment’ strategy is to ‘rapidly surge combat-ready forces’ into Europe when needed.
The U.S., Canada, Germany and Britain already lead battalion-size units in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.