German fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian Il-20 aircraft over Baltic Sea

German fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian Il-20 aircraft over Baltic Sea. Photo: German Air Force on Twitter (Х)

The German Air Force scrambled their fighter jets over the Baltic Sea on Saturday to intercept a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft.

Source: European Pravda, citing German Air Force (Luftwaffe) on Twitter (Х)

The German aircraft were forced to take off from the base in Lielvārde, Latvia. 

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“Our European fighter jets from VAPB took off from Lielvārde today on a defensive mission to intercept a Russian Il-20 over the Baltic Sea, which was flying without a transponder,” the statement reads.

This is not the first such incident involving the interception of a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft.

24/7 bedeutet auch am Wochenende. Unsere Eurofighter von #VAPB sind heute in Lielvarde 🇱🇻 zu einem Schutzflug gestartet um eine 🇷🇺 COOT-A (Il-20) über der baltischen See abzufangen, die ohne Transponder unterwegs war. @gaisa_speki @NATO @GermanyNATO #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/p9wzXKMmn5

— Team Luftwaffe (@Team_Luftwaffe) April 6, 2024

Background:

• In February, a French Mirage 2000 fighter jet intercepted a Russian Il-20 aircraft near the coast of Estonia.
• In January, Germany scrambled fighter jets from the Laage airbase in northeastern Germany to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft spotted over the Baltic Sea near its shores.

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