Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea (2015)
Photo: DPA/ RAF/ BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
The German Air Force says it intercepted a Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Eurofighter fighter jets took off from the Latvian base at Lielvarde on Saturday to intercept an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, the air force said on the online service X, formerly Twitter. 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. There have been several incidents with Russian military aircraft in the Baltic Sea region in the past.
At the end of January, the Air Force “identified and briefly accompanied a Russian military aircraft off Rügen in international airspace before it turned back east,” as it said in a statement. In this incident, too, the aircraft was flying without a transponder signal.
czl/AFP