According to reports from a Swedish media outlet, a Russian drone was intercepted while monitoring the arrival of the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Sweden. The incident occurred during the vessel’s presence in the port of Malmö. The Charles de Gaulle, flagship of the French Navy, was in Swedish territory as part of an official mission when authorities confirmed the detection of an unmanned aircraft allegedly linked to Russia.
As reported by Swedish public broadcaster SVT, the drone reportedly approached the vessel after being launched from a Russian military ship located near the Øresund Strait in the Baltic Sea. However, no details have been provided regarding the type of drone used by the Russians to conduct this monitoring of the French aircraft carrier. What the Swedish Armed Forces did confirm was that the incident involving a suspicious drone occurred and that countermeasures were activated to neutralize it while maritime patrol operations were being carried out in the area.
In an official statement, the Armed Forces said: “A vessel of the Swedish Navy observed a suspicious drone during an ongoing patrol in the Øresund. In connection with the observation, the Armed Forces adopted countermeasures to interfere with the suspicious drone. Contact with the drone was subsequently lost.” The military authority indicated that, for the time being, it cannot confirm what happened to the device after contact was lost or specify its exact point of origin.
Sweden’s Minister of Defense, Pål Jonson, told SVT that the drone was likely of Russian origin and linked the episode to the presence of a Russian military ship in the area. “There was probably a violation of Swedish airspace by a drone, which occurred in connection with the presence of a Russian military vessel in the Øresund. Judging by everything, there is a strong connection between the Russian military vessel and this drone,” the official stated.
The Swedish Armed Forces noted that no further drone sightings were recorded after the incident and that authorities are currently assessing whether the event constitutes a violation of existing access regulations. It was also not confirmed whether additional measures were taken beyond the electronic countermeasures used to interfere with the unmanned aircraft.
The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in Malmö on its first port call in Sweden as part of the La Fayette 26 carrier strike group mission (Mission Lafayette 26). From the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) operates with defined strategic objectives. The Charles de Gaulle is the largest non-U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world, measuring over 260 meters in length, capable of carrying around 2,000 sailors and military personnel, and equipped with an air wing of approximately 30 combat aircraft.
*Cover image obtained from the Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group.
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