They are Russia's eyes and ears in the Ukrainian sky, but also at the gates of NATO countries.
French mirages 2000 intercepted one this Wednesday in the Baltic Sea, for the third time since the start of the war in Ukraine.
An Ilyushin Il-20M was indeed intercepted off the Lithuanian coast, after the incidents in November 2022 and January 2023, this time managed by German fighter planes near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and above the Baltic sea.
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These planes, designed and produced in the 1960s, carry electronic warfare systems with them.
Concretely, they can intercept electromagnetic signals and are therefore intended to capture enemy communications.
“They can triangulate in order to determine the position of our radars, which is valuable in planning a possible attack
,” explains Xavier Tytelman, aviation specialist and former French army pilot.
"They lead…
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