As part of NATO’s Air Policing Operations in Eastern Europe, once again Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the British Royal Air Force intercepted a signals intelligence aircraft Ilyushin Il-20M of the Russian Armed Forces. The event, which adds to a growing list of episodes recorded during the year 2025, takes place within the ongoing tensions on the Old Continent between forces of the Atlantic Alliance and Russia.
Currently, the British Royal Air Force maintains deployed in Poland a detachment of Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 fighters, belonging to the 140 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW), carrying out Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties within the framework of NATO’s Air Policing missions in Eastern Europe.
The detachment, which adds to others at various deployment points, is operating from the 22nd Air Base of the Polish Air Force, located in Malbork, which has recently led it to be involved in other encounters with aircraft of the Russian Armed Forces, which operate out of Kaliningrad.
To cite an example, before the incident officially reported on May 27, at the end of April, British aircraft also intercepted a Russian signals intelligence aircraft.
Returning to the episode in question, it took place on May 25, when an aircraft of this type began operating in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, triggering the QRA protocol by several air forces in the region.
This was detailed by the Royal Air Force, indicating that the mentioned SIGINT aircraft “…had been intercepted and escorted by three other pairs of NATO aircraft that same day. The aircraft performing the previous escort withdrew when the plane headed toward Kaliningrad airspace.”
It added: “Once in Kaliningrad airspace, the aircraft turned and headed southwest, toward Polish airspace. It was this action that led NATO to order the RAF Typhoons to take off. The aircraft then turned northwest and flew over the Baltic Sea, north of Poland, in international airspace. The Typhoons intercepted the aircraft as it exited Kaliningrad airspace and escorted it until it was handed over to the Danish Quick Reaction Alert (QRA).”
Finally, and as has been reported, both NATO and Russia continue to deploy various signals intelligence gathering platforms, which has led to episodes of increasing tension, generating protests and diplomatic clashes. It is enough to mention the incidents recorded in January and March of the current year, when a French ATL2 patrol aircraft was illuminated by a Russian S-400 air defense system while conducting a flight in the region.
Deployments such as that of the mentioned ATL2 or the Il-20M on May 25, besides serving both sides to collect signals intelligence, also act as a way to measure the response times of detection and surveillance systems, as well as a demonstration of the capabilities that NATO and Russia can deploy in the region.
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