By Brooks Tigner
BRUSSELS — New revelations yesteryear the Norwegian military machine in addition to allied officials that Russian Federation persistently jammed GPS signals during NATO’s of late concluded Trident Juncture practice inwards Europe’s High North part are disturbing for their implications.
That should come upward every bit no surprise to anyone who has followed, fifty-fifty nominally, Moscow’s tactics. But where to depict the line?
The marrow activities of Trident Juncture took house inwards southern in addition to primal Norway, summation the North Atlantic in addition to Baltic Sea betwixt Oct 25 in addition to Nov 7.
According to Norway’s Ministry of Defense, the jamming took house betwixt Oct xvi in addition to Nov seven inwards Russia’s Kola Peninsula. This part shares a mutual border with northern Kingdom of Norway in addition to NATO partner the world Finland, whose military machine forces also participated inwards the exercise.
NATO officials confirmed the disruption. Speaking inwards Paris to reporters on Nov 11, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “we encounter that cyber, electronic warfare, electronic agency are used to a greater extent than in addition to to a greater extent than frequent[ly] inwards unlike operations, in addition to thence nosotros accept all these issues really seriously.”
Reacting to the Norwegian Defense Ministry’s statement, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said: “Finland has expressed trouble over possible jamming inwards Lapland. In persuasion of the civilian usage of GPS, jamming of this assort is dangerous, disruptive, in addition to irresponsible. In general, nosotros encounter cyberattacks in addition to electronic warfare used with greater frequency in addition to severity.”
Indeed, Russian Federation has jammed or disrupted all kinds of communications vital to Western forces inwards recent years, from mobile band networks during exercises to electronic warfare against the States operations on the the world inwards Syria.
Yet allied militaries are no innocents when it comes to jamming either. With in addition to so much of their equipment in addition to systems subject on digital technologies, the to a greater extent than advanced Western armies consider counter-electronic warfare every bit inevitable in addition to get got planned accordingly. The divergence with Russian Federation is its intent.
“There’s been a designing of Moscow trying out novel electronic jamming in addition to other forms every bit intimidation,” said Jamie Shea. Recently retired from NATO every bit assistant secretarial assistant full general of its Emerging Threats Division, Shea forthwith shuttles betwixt academic in addition to security interrogation posts inwards the United Kingdom of Great Britain in addition to Northern Ireland of Britain in addition to Northern Republic of Ireland in addition to Brussels.
“We’ve seen transmitters going downwards mysteriously inwards Sweden, hacking of soldiers’ personal devices inwards the Baltics, disruptions to mobile band networks inwards Republic of Lithuania during maritime exercises in addition to and so on,” he observed.
For example, NATO officials confided at that fourth dimension that electronic jamming was with the primal capabilities they believe were tested during Russia’s largescale Zapad 17 practice inwards September 2017 across its Western Military District. Some of these were later carried out to champaign operations.
“Much of these disruptive technologies were used or tested yesteryear Russian Federation inwards Syria, in addition to and so it’s logical their application moved upward to the northward of Europe,” said Shea. “These circumstances propose that Russian Federation sees NATO activities every bit an under-the-screen chance to examine their jamming in addition to other disruptive capabilities.”
If so, that has to a greater extent than or less doctrinal in addition to procedural implications for allied personnel. For example, inwards futurity when the allies acquit out their traditional post-exercise “wash-up.” or review of an activity, they volition need to endure beyond traditional lessons learnt nigh logistics, grooming or tactical maneuvers to include how Russian Federation exploits the practice for its ain ends. Yet that represents a double-edged sword for Moscow inwards that the scrutiny volition run the other way yesteryear using the wash-up to analyze what the Russians are upward to. “NATO volition get got to constituent that into its futurity planning,” said Shea.
As Ann Kristin Salbuvik, assistant managing director of Kingdom of Norway Ministry of Defense, lay it inwards a Nov fifteen electronic mail reply to me, “electronic jamming appears to get got acquire a regular purpose of the grooming activities of the Russian the world forces over the yesteryear year. Beyond that, nosotros produce non want to speculate every bit to why nosotros get got repeatedly experienced GPS disturbances.”
For his part, Shea warned of a carmine trace inwards this murky electronic environment.
“It is 1 matter to hack into soldiers’ phones, but quite to a greater extent than or less other to jam a GPS signal. That has straight implications far beyond the military machine yesteryear threatening the security performance of airliners, vessels in addition to other civilian targets. It moves the game from beyond mere cat-and-mouse probing of the enemy to hybrid warfare,” he said.
Brooks Tigner reports on European Union in addition to NATO foreign, defense, in addition to security policy from Brussels, where he has separated reality from rhetoric for the yesteryear twenty-five years.
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