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Russia jammed GPS during major NATO military exercise with US troops

Posted at 7:59 AM, Nov 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-14 08:01:09-05

The Russian military jammed GPS signals during a major NATO military exercise in Norway that involved thousands of US and NATO troops, a spokesperson for the Norwegian ministry of defense tells CNN.

“We are aware of the fact that Russian land forces on the Kola Peninsula were jamming (between October 16 and November 7),” the spokesperson said.

“We follow the situation closely with relevant authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously taken this subject up with Russian authorities. We will defer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if there are further questions,” the spokesperson continued.

The NATO exercise, Trident Juncture, concluded Sunday and involved some 50,000 personnel. It was labeled the alliance’s largest exercise since the Cold War.

Asked about the report of Russian jamming, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was aware of the reports but did not offer additional information.

“We have seen there have been similar reports from Norway, and I cannot share more precise information with you,” Stoltenberg said Sunday at a news conference marking the end of Trident Juncture.

“What I can say is that we see that cyber, electronic warfare, electronic means are used more and more frequent in different operations, and therefore we take all these issues very seriously,” Stoltenberg added.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.