Bundeswehr jets take off
Russian reconnaissance aircraft identified over the Baltic Sea
April 6, 2024, 8:06 p.m
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Russian military aircraft repeatedly roam the airspace over the Baltic Sea without any recognition signals. This time it is an IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft. German Eurofighters take off to identify the plane.
The German Air Force says it intercepted a Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea. The Air Force announced on The machine was therefore traveling without a transponder signal.
As part of NATO, Germany participates in air surveillance over the Baltic states, which do not have their own combat aircraft. For this purpose, the federal government has stationed five Eurofighters in Latvia. Air Force Squadron 74’s mission is scheduled to run until the end of November.
Since the Baltic states joined the alliance 20 years ago, NATO states have regularly relocated aircraft to the region as a visible sign of alliance solidarity. There have been several incidents with Russian military aircraft in the Baltic Sea region in the past. At the end of January, an alarm team started from Laage Air Base in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to identify an Il-20 off Rügen.
The Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance machine was developed in the former Soviet Union and was first observed by NATO in 1978 (NATO codename: Coot-A). The aircraft is equipped with special technology for electronic reconnaissance and telecommunications reconnaissance. During the Cold War, aircraft of this type were seen primarily over European waters.
An alarm squad usually consists of two Eurofighters that rise within minutes to check possible threats or, if necessary, ward them off. However, mutual controls in the airspace are largely routine.