Russian Su-27 jet intercepts Swedish spy plane: report

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian airspace control equipment spotted the Swedish reconnaissance aircraft Gulfstream over the Baltic Sea close to the Russian border, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday, January 24 adding that the Russian Su-27 jet was scrambled to intercept it, Sputnik reports.

“The Russian equipment controlling the airspace spotted an aerial target over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea that was approaching the Russian state border. Su-27 jet… was scrambled to intercept the target”, the ministry’s department of information and mass communications said in a statement.

The Russian jet approached the Swedish aircraft at a safe distance and identified it as the Swedish reconnaissance aircraft Gulfstream, which was flying with its transponder switched off.

This is not the first time Russian military reports it has to scramble jets to chase away foreign spy planes.

The previous week, Russian Defence Ministry reported that Russian jets had been scrambled five times in a week to prevent the foreign combat planes from crossing into the Russian airspace.