On Wednesday and Thursday nights, the French Navy’s Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) was jammed and locked by the Russian S400 air defense system’s fire control radar.
First reported by Agence France Presse, then Confirmed today by the French Minister of Defensea French MPA on patrol in international waters in the Baltic Sea was locked on to the fire control radar of Russia’s S400 air defense system and was also jammed. The MPA was on a NATO mission.
The circumstances of the jamming and fire control radar lock are unclear, but what is known is that the MPA took off from its home base of Lan-Biue in Brittany, France, on Wednesday and spent five hours off the coasts of Sweden and the Baltics. It is. before returning to base. Naval News understands that the bird probably evolved in the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ – not airspace) of Kaliningrad (Russian territory surrounded by Poland and Estonia), but the species remains rare on the high seas. under threat.
“On Wednesday night, the French maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique 2 became the target of Russian threats. It was patrolling international airspace over the Baltic Sea as part of a NATO operation when it was intercepted by the fire control radar of the S400 ground/air defense system. “This aggressive Russian behavior is unacceptable. Our military will continue to operate to protect freedom of navigation in international air and maritime space.”
Sébastien Lecornu, French Minister of Defense.
French military spokesman Colonel Guillaume Vernet commented on the incident: “Radaring our aircraft on the high seas is an aggressive act. The professional behavior of the crew prevented the situation from escalating.”
The French Navy regularly deploys MPAs in the Baltic Sea and participates in NATO missions to ensure safety of navigation and, above all, surveillance of Russian assets in transit. However, following sabotage of some submarine cables in the region, such as Eastlink 2, As previously reported by Navy Newspatrols have been stepped up.
Indeed, to strengthen the protection of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI), NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said: baltic sentrya mission dedicated to the safety of critical underwater assets. The latter aims to strengthen oversight of CUI and thwart any future attempts to harm it.
