In a new episode in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, a Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Il-20 signals intelligence aircraft was intercepted by German Air Force Eurofighter jets deployed in Latvia. The incident was confirmed by the Luftwaffe through its social media channels on October 18.
This episode between NATO air forces and aircraft of the Russian Federation Armed Forces adds to a growing list of encounters recorded in recent months. In this particular case, the detected plane was flying over the Baltic Sea without a flight plan and with transponders turned off. As the Atlantic alliance has reported on several occasions, this situation, alerted by its Surveillance and Monitoring Centers in Laage, Germany, activated the QRA protocol.
Through this, Eurofighter jets of the German Air Force, currently deployed in Latvia, were scrambled to strengthen the presence of Atlantic alliance assets and join the tasks of Air Policing in the region. Other forces, such as the Italian Aeronautica Militare operating from Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, are also contributing to this mission. To cite a recent episode, Italian fighter jets intercepted a VKS MiG-31 at the end of last September.
Regarding the incident reported on October 18, the German planes identified the aircraft as an Il-20M Coot-A, a variant specialized in signals intelligence (SIGINT) based on the Il-18, in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The presence of this aircraft, flying without a flight plan and with transponders turned off, was presumably aimed at gathering signals-based intelligence from NATO forces deployed in the region, as well as measuring detection and interception response times of aerospace assets.
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