Plane targeted by Russia: “This aggressive action is not acceptable” – France sees red

The targeting of a French maritime patrol plane by a Russian army radar while it was flying over the Baltic Sea constitutes a measure of “intimidation” which is “not acceptable”, the minister said on Friday. French Army, Sébastien Lecornu.

The French Navy’s Atlantic-2, which was carrying out a surveillance flight as part of NATO’s Baltic Sentry operation in response to damage to submarine cables, of which Russia is suspected, was the victim of a “jamming attempt” as well as a “designation by a fire control radar”, according to a communication from the French army.

He was “the target of Russian intimidation measures,” said the minister on X. “It was patrolling international airspace over the Baltic Sea (…), and was illuminated by the fire control radar of an S400 surface-to-air defense system.”

“This aggressive Russian action is not acceptable,” he said. “Our armies will continue to act to defend freedom of navigation in international air and maritime spaces,” he adds.

This type of incident, “quite serious”, is “fairly widespread” and “well beyond the borders of Europe”, estimated American General Christopher Cavoli, commander of NATO forces in Europe, during a press point Thursday in Brussels.