Europe’s ‘secret weapon’ against Russian jamming attacks revealed | World | News
Russian jamming of European satellites has intensified in recent months (Image: Getty)
In September, Russia was believed to have been behind the jamming of the satellite signal of a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over Bulgaria, which forced it to circle an airport for an hour before it could finally land. A year earlier, in March 2024, Russia was also accused of jamming the signal of a plane carrying Grant Shapps, the then UK Defence Secretary, who was returning to the UK from Poland. The RAF plane was affected by GPS interference for about 30 minutes while it flew near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
GPS jamming and “spoofing” – an electronic warfare tactic that causes incorrect navigation information to be displayed – has intensified since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In recent months, there have been growing numbers of reports of Russia jamming European satellites emerging from the UK, Germany, Sweden and across the Baltic and Red Seas. While EU institutions have issued statements, frontline militaries still lack a practical, field-ready defence. However, one Lithuanian space and defence technology company, Astrolight, has said it has a solution – and it is already deployable.
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In September, Russia was accused of jamming the satellite signal of Ursula von der Leyen’s plane. (Image: Getty)
According to Astrolight’s CEO, Laurynas Mačiulis, jam-resistant laser communication is the answer.
“Our communication equipment involves shining a laser beam to the other objects that transmit information in a similar way to how you receive information travelling through optical fibres,” Mr Mačiulis told the Express. “Just in our case, we do it in space, to satellites.
“We are one of the few companies in the world that have developed solutions, laser communication solutions for all the domains: space-to-ground, to sea, and air.”
Mr Mačiulis explained that this laser communication is resistant to interference, unlike radio communications. The current radio technology uses antennas that spread the energy of radio waves widely, with no ability to point them precisely. This means that virtually anyone within the range of communication can detect and intercept those signals.
Laurynas Mačiulis, Astrolight’s CEO, says jam-resistant laser communication is the answer to stopping Russia jamming European satellites. (Image: Astrolight)
“In our case, we use an extremely directional means of communication with lasers,” he said. “That beam is not only very narrow, it’s also invisible to the human eye and very difficult to detect, even with sophisticated sensors, because the signals are very faint. Unless you are within the beam itself or at a very, very low angle to it, you cannot see it.”
According to Mr Mačiulis, there is a huge demand for satellite communications, but the issue is that they all need to share the same frequency spectrum: “So many satellites have been launched into space that the radio spectrum has essentially been completely used, so the pull is now to go to higher and higher frequencies.
“Eventually, the ultimate solution is the laser, which holds an enormous amount of bandwidth because it operates on the optical spectrum, which is a very high frequency.”
The CEO said that the vast majority of the world’s military powers are interested in this technology. Their laser communication terminals have been tested in real conditions and operations, including NATO’s Dynamic Messenger (DYMS) and with the Lithuanian Navy.
The optical ground station in Greenland will be similar to the ESA’s operational OGS in Tenerife (Image: European Space Agency)
Then, last month, Astrolight’s Danish subsidiary, supported by the European Space Agency (ESA), announced the deployment of its first Arctic optical ground station (OGS) in Greenland, a crucial location for establishing secure links with polar-orbiting satellites. It will resemble the ESA’s already operational OGS in Tenerife, Spain, known as Izaña-1.
“The goal of this project is to demonstrate optical communication downlinks to a ground station located in Greenland and able to resist the harsh climate conditions over there,” Mr Mačiulis explained. “The reason why there is added value in that location in Greenland is that it provides enhanced connectivity in the Arctic region.”
For Mr Mačiulis, Europe must improve its ability to protect military and civilian satellites against the threat posed by its enemies, such as Russia.
“Interference in space can happen, and is already happening. It’s not a secret. In Russian military catalogues, you can see they have systems that are designed to interfere with satellites. Furthermore, if you put electronic equipment on the satellite itself, you can actually wreak havoc in space.”
The first thing Russia would affect would be military communication, which is crucial to the modern battlefield, says Mr Mačiulis (Image: Getty)
In his opinion, the first thing that would be affected by this would be military communication: “Military assets very much heavily depend on satellite satcom solutions to communicate with headquarters, to decision makers. If you can undermine that, then you don’t have efficient, secure ways of sharing information. In the modern battlefield, this is crucial”.
When asked if he believes this could be an area that Russia would exploit if it were to launch an attack on another country, Mr Mačiulis replied: “Every means of warfare is waged during wars.
“There were recent reports from the UK military about them experiencing interference on satellites already, so I think these means are being tested. There is often information that we don’t have access to, but it’s happening.”
