JAKARTA - A British Royal Air Force (RAF) plane carrying British Defense Secretary John Healey experienced a signal disruption and GPS was disabled while flying near the Russian border last week, the Ministry of Defense confirmed on Monday.
The Times newspaper first reported the RAF plane's signal was jammed when Defence Secretary Healey returned to Britain on Thursday, after visiting British troops stationed in Estonia.
The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed to AFP that the report was accurate, adding: "This is a reckless Russian intervention, but the RAF is ready to deal with this activity," as quoted by Al Arabiya(26/5).
However, the ministry did not confirm who was behind the incident and whether the Menhan Healey plane was deliberately targeted.
The incident disabled the plane's GPS during the three-hour journey, forcing the pilot to use an alternative navigation system, the newspaper reported.
The Times, whose reporters accompanied Defense Secretary Healey, said the electronic devices could not connect to the internet and some parts of the dashboard were damaged.
This comes after the Ministry of Defense last week said two Russian jets "repeatedly and dangerously" intercepted a British reconnaissance plane over the Black Sea in April.
Defense Secretary Healey condemned the incident as "dangerous and unacceptable" behavior by Russian pilots in international airspace, adding it would not "deter the UK's commitment to defend NATO, our allies, and our interests from Russian aggression."
Officials said the incident in the Black Sea was the most serious involving a British Rivet Joint aircraft since 2022, when a Russian plane fired a missile near a British plane in the same area.
Relations between Russia and Britain are freezing, with Britain one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine since Moscow's 2022 invasion.
Previously, a RAF plane carrying then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps suffered a temporary signal disruption near Russian territory on its return from Poland in 2024.
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