|
Two Swedish Gripen jets and two German Eurofighter jets deployed
in international airspace to monitor and photograph the Russian
IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft. It had been flying without
providing a flight path or radio contact that could signal its
presence, Swedish and German air force officials said.
The monitoring, which ended without incident, came as NATO and
European Union member countries have been on heightened alert
for Russian military and reconnaissance activities in and around
their airspace.
On Friday, three Russian fighter aircraft entered Estonia’s
airspace without permission and stayed there for 12 minutes, the
Estonian Foreign Ministry said. That happened just over a week
after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and
heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.
"Today, (Swedish) JAS 39 Gripens and (German) Eurofighters were
scrambled over the South Baltic Sea, identifying and monitoring
a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft in international
airspace," the Swedish air force said on its X account.
The German Luftwaffe said its jets had initially followed the
Russian plane before handing off monitoring to the fighters from
NATO ally Sweden, and then returning to Rostock-Laage airfield
in northern Germany.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
