Newsgerman eurofighters intercept russian spy plane near rügen

german eurofighters intercept russian spy plane near rügen

German Eurofighter jets intercepted a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M spy plane near Rügen. This is another incident in the region that is causing concern for NATO.

Russian spy plane in NATO airspace. Aircraft intercepted.
Russian spy plane in NATO airspace. Aircraft intercepted.
Images source: © Getty Images | Urbanandsport
Kamila Gurgul

what do you need to know?

  • On Thursday morning, German fighters intercepted a Russian spy plane near Rügen after NATO detected activity in the Kaliningrad region.
  • Eurofighters from the base in Rostock-Laage were scrambled to intercept the plane, which did not respond to calls and had its transponder turned off.
  • After being escorted by German fighters, the Ilyushin Il-20M plane turned back toward Kaliningrad.

On Thursday morning, at 3:14 AM Eastern Time, NATO detected suspicious activity in the Kaliningrad region. Just twelve minutes later, German Eurofighter jets from the base in Rostock-Laage were scrambled into action. Their mission was to intercept a Russian aircraft approaching German airspace.

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how did the interception unfold?

At 3:45 AM Eastern Time, German pilots made radar contact with the aircraft, and four minutes later they achieved visual contact. It turned out to be a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M spy plane, known in NATO as "Coot-A". The plane had its transponder turned off and did not respond to calls, posing a threat to civilian air traffic.

an incident significant for NATO

German fighters escorted the Russian plane for several kilometres east of Rügen before it turned back toward Kaliningrad. This incident is not isolated, as similar situations occur “occasionally,” according to sources from the German Luftwaffe. Although Russian planes do not directly violate NATO airspace, their presence near the borders is concerning.

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Source: Bild

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