In what marks a new episode in the Baltic region, a Russian Aerospace Forces Il-20M signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft was once again intercepted by German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Eurofighter jets. This incident adds to a growing list of similar events over the past few weeks involving various air assets from the Russian military and German forces deployed in the region.
As in previous episodes, NATO’s Command and Control Center in Uedem detected an aircraft flying without a filed flight plan and with its transponders turned off. This triggered the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) protocol to intercept the contact, with German Air Force Eurofighter jets stationed in the region once again tasked with carrying out Air Policing Missions in support of Baltic allies.
Images released by the Luftwaffe on August 26 confirmed the presence of an Il-20M Coot-A, a variant specialized in signals intelligence (SIGINT) based on the Il-18, in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces. This marks the second time in August that this type of aircraft has been intercepted by German jets in the region, with the first incident reported on August 14.
To date, a pattern of recurring incidents in the Baltic airspace has been observed, according to various reports from both NATO and the VKS (Russian Aerospace Forces). While many of these flights are conducted in accordance with international laws, they still highlight how both NATO forces and the Russian Armed Forces are testing the reaction and response capabilities of integrated air surveillance systems, composed of ground sensors and fighter jets.
The situation has become so frequent that within 48 hours of this latest incident, the German Air Force also reported on August 27 that another Russian aircraft flying in a similar manner was intercepted by their Eurofighter jets. However, on this occasion, the aircraft was a variant of the Il-20M, designated Coot-C, which specializes in the electronic intelligence (ELINT) collection, marking the third incident of this kind involving VKS aircraft this month.
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