German Eurofighters and Swedish Gripens once again intercept Russian fighters near Latvia

On Saturday, 3 August, NATO fighter jets intercepted two Russian Su-30 aircraft near Latvian airspace over the Baltic Sea.

Here's What We Know

The German Air Force reported that the Russian pilots did not try to cooperate, but were not aggressive either. According to the German news outlet Bild, two German Eurofighters and two Swedish Gripen jets took part in the interception.

The Russian fighters were participating in a training exercise, but their flight plan was not communicated in advance.

"The transponders were switched off and the pilots did not respond to radio requests," a German Air Force spokesman told Bild.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Russian fighter jets have attempted to enter foreign airspace. In mid-June, NATO aircraft attempted 11 times to detect and escort Russian aircraft flying in international airspace without proper communication or flight plans. Most of these Russian aircraft also had their transponders switched off, according to Lithuanian news agency LRT.

Source: Defence Industry Europe