- This story is breaking, more to follow.
German and Swedish fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian spy plane over the Baltic Sea, NATO has revealed.
The military bloc said that two planes, a Swedish JAS Gripen and a German Eurofighter Typhoon, were sent from their respective bases were forced to identify and escort a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 that was flying over the Baltic Sea on Saturday.
NATO Air Command said the operation highlighted Sweden‘s ‘seamless operation into the Alliance.’
Sweden’s armed forces, the Försvarsmakten, said its plane flew over Bornholm, a small island in the Baltic Sea belonging to Denmark, to intercept the Russian plane.
Germany‘s air force, the Luftwaffe, meanwhile added that the Russian plane was flying ‘without a flight plane and transponder’, adding that its Eurorighter flew from a NATO base in Latvia.
NATO said that two planes, a Swedish JAS Gripen and a German Eurofighter Typhoon, were sent from their respective bases were forced to identify and escort a Russian Ilyushin Il-20
It is not currently known exactly what the Ilyushi-Il-20, known for its developed spying capabilities, was doing over the Baltic Sea.
But its built-in capabilities, which include specialised signal capturing technology, as well as large cameras and several large antennas, mean it can transmit vast amounts of information to ground command in near real-time.
More to follow.