A government plane carrying British Defence Secretary John Healy lost its GPS signal while flying near the Russian border, The Times newspaper reported.
A Times journalist accompanied the official, who, along with military advisers, an unnamed three-star general and two photographers, visited British troop positions in southeast Estonia.
According to the newspaper, the Dassault Falcon 900LX lost its satellite signal on May 21 while returning to the UK. The article states that the signal could only be restored by restarting the system, but because the plane was in the air, this was not done. As a result, according to The Times, the pilot used an inertial navigation system, which does not require external signals, for the entire three-hour flight.
At the same time, the newspaper notes, the aircraft’s instrument panel partially stopped working, and passengers’ computers could not connect to the Internet. The newspaper does not conclude whether the disruption was the result of a targeted attack on this particular aircraft. The newspaper has not provided an official statement on the matter.
In March 2024, the plane of Grant Shapps, Healy’s predecessor as defense secretary, also lost GPS signal while flying near Kaliningrad. Apparently, it was the same Dassault Falcon 900LX business jet of the Royal Air Force. As The Daily Telegraph later reported, the aircraft was not protected against electronic warfare in order to save money.
As the publication reported at the time, it was decided not to equip two Dassault 900LX aircraft, acquired in 2021 for the British government, military command and the royal family, with multiple defense systems in order to save up to 200 million pounds ($270 million). A year later, this decision was canceled. It was expected that by 2024 the aircraft would receive their own electronic warfare systems for missile defense and be equipped with jamming-resistant military-grade avionics. The necessary work was not completed on schedule. The publication reported at the time that the conversion of both aircraft would be completed in 2026, but it is not clear whether this was ultimately completed.