Swedish Gripen Fighter Jets Intercepted a Russian Reconnaissance Aircraft Over Poland

A tense situation unfolded this morning (April 24, 2025) when a Russian reconnaissance aircraft was detected flying near Swedish airspace. In response, Swedish Gripen fighter jets were scrambled under NATO command to intercept the aircraft over the Baltic Sea. The Polish-developed Gripen jets, operating under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission, were deployed from Malbork in northern Poland. According to a spokesperson for the Swedish Air Force, ‘The aircraft was close to Polish airspace, so we launched to assert our presence, perform visual identification, and escort it out of the area.’ This marks the first time Gripen jets have been scrambled under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission. The intercepted aircraft was identified as an IL-20M, specialized in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance missions. Although the incident occurred in international airspace, tensions in the Baltic Sea region have risen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.