UK RAF Uses Electronic Warfare to Disrupt Satellites as GPS Loss Could Cost £10 Billion a Week

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is using ground-based electronic warfare equipment that can interfere with satellite communications and navigation during sensitive military operations, according to a TechRadar report by Efosa Udinmwen. The equipment has reportedly been used against potential threats for about a year.

Powerful electronic signals can disrupt satellite links, while lasers can interfere with satellite sensors. Defence officials say the capability could be used when hostile satellites try to monitor British military activity, including nuclear-armed submarines or special forces operations. Officials describe the terrestrial capability as world-leading.

RAF head Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth said adversaries were engaging in increasingly irresponsible and provocative activity involving space systems. In May 2026, British forces reportedly tracked five Russian satellites moving close to two Finnish commercial satellites. Smyth also linked Russian satellite activity to GPS disruptions recorded across Europe and Canada.

The RAF has established a Space Effects Squadron to defend British space assets and disrupt, degrade or deny threats to them, according to the Ministry of Defence. Britain also operates a small number of military satellites and works closely with the United States Space Force.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said GPS loss could cost the UK economy about £1.4 billion a day, or roughly £10 billion a week at that rate. He cited the dependence of services such as weather forecasting, energy systems, financial transactions, satellite navigation and mobile communications on satellites.

The report also says the United States confirmed deploying an unspecified weapon in space to protect its satellites. Russia and China criticised the move; Washington has accused both countries of developing space-based weapons, reportedly including jammers, lasers and projectiles.