Russia reported to have engaged in ‘electronic warfare’ at Akrotiri

A British newspaper has reported that Russia is understood to have engaged in “electronic warfare” against RAF aircraft taking off from the Akrotiri British base in Cyprus.

The Times quoted military intelligence sources as saying that: “Russia has been trying to jam planes taking off, which is all part of its sub-threshold activity.”

A spokesman for the British bases in Cyprus said he had no comment.

An integrated review published this week identified Russia as the “most acute threat” to UK security.

Reports identified that attempts were made to interfere with satellite communications of the A400M transport aircraft leaving RAF Akrotiri while troops were on board.

“The attacks could have prevented the pilot from knowing where the aircraft was or the direction it was flying in and potentially resulted in casualties. None of the attempts was successful. The only two hostile states close enough to try to jam the signals were Syria and Russia, with Russia understood to be the only country capable of doing so,” The Times reported.

Following the review of foreign and defence policies, the UK announced that it is set to reverse plans to reduce its stockpile of nuclear weapons and will instead increase the number of warheads to 260.