The use of electronic warfare to protect Vladimir Putin from aerial attack is threatening major air crashes in Russia, pilots have warned. They have complained “en masse” about failures in their aircraft collision warning systems.
The nightmare is especially acute in St Petersburg, where the Kremlin dictator hosts a three-day high-security economic forum beginning today, which includes thousands of Russian and overseas business guests despite sanctions against his regime. More than 160 reports have been lodged by pilots flying to and from the city’s Pulkovo airport in the last six days. Former Airbus A320 pilot Yuri Yashin clearly said the TCAS – Traffic Collision Avoidance System – now “goes crazy” in the Russian sky.
Russia uses electronic warfare jamming due to the threat of Ukrainian kamikaze drones in revenge strikes for Putin’s relentless attacks during the three year war – but it has unforeseen problems threatening aircraft safety.
Jamming is especially intense at events attended by Putin amid fears of assassination attempts on the dictator. The use of GPS jamming electronic warfare technology by the armed and security forces causes warnings to cockpit crews that they face imminent collisions, say reports.
Pilots are warned of “unidentified objects” flying near them, causing them to abruptly change course or altitude.
These “move chaotically without reflecting their own flight altitude”, according to the Aviatorschina aviation Telegram channel.
But the same threats are not seen on the screens of air traffic controllers on the ground, according to reports.
Sometimes pilots get a verbal signal “traffic” warning of a “potential collision threat and the presence of another aircraft nearby”.
In other cases, the anti-collision warning system alerts to a real collision threat, issuing a command for an immediate climb or descent. Such instructions have priority over air traffic control orders.
The incidents have risen as Russian officials and guests arrive in St Petersburg.
An airline source said the nightmare was due to “increased activity of electronic warfare systems in connection with the St Petersburg International Economic Forum”, starting today, and hosted personally by Putin.
“I have encountered the failure myself and my colleagues have too,” one pilot told Caution News. “This used to happen rarely, now there are GPS jammers.”
Yashin said it is now more difficult to distinguish “a false threat from a real one”.
The problem has also hit other airports including those in Moscow, which faces regular drone strikes.