French Mirage 2000 intercepts Russian Il-20 near Estonia

A French Mirage 2000 fighter jet intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft off the coast of Estonia.

The French Army reported that they had raised a fighter jet to protect the airspace of the Baltic allies.

“Alert and interception of an IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft off the coast by Mirage 2000. The goal was to protect the airspace of our Baltic allies,” the statement reads.

French military aircraft are deployed in some NATO member states within a mission called NATO Air Policing.

Its purpose is to maintain the security of Alliance airspace. Such missions were strengthened after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Since then, there have been several interceptions of aircraft that have not caused any serious incidents.

At the same time, last week, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported that Russian forces had threatened to shoot down French planes that were patrolling international airspace over the Black Sea last month.

The Russian Aerospace Forces often violate Estonian airspace.

In 2021, even a Russian A-50 Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft violated it.

At the time, the plane had a flight plan, but it was flying with the transponder turned off and was not in radio contact with Estonian air traffic control at the time of the violation of the Estonian state border.

Also, on May 14, 2021, an Italian F-35A fighter jet deployed at an Estonian air base intercepted a Russian An-12 aircraft.

In 2023, it was reported that Spain would deploy a NASAMS air defense system in Estonia.