The Swedish Gripens conducted their first Alpha Scramble for the NATO Air Policing mission, intercepting a Russian Il-20 Coot over the Baltic Sea.
Two Swedish Air Force’s (Flygvapnet) JAS39 Gripen conducted their first interception of a Russian Air Force (RuAF) aircraft as part of the NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission on Apr. 24, 2025. The aircraft are deployed to Malbork, in northern Poland, for Sweden’s first Enhanced Air Policing Mission since the country joined NATO.
According to the announcement by the NATO Air Command and the Försvarsmakten (Swedish Armed Forces), the two Gripens involved in the Alpha Scramble intercepted an Ilyushin Il-20M spy plane over the Baltic Sea. The intercept comes almost a month after the six Saab JAS39 Gripen Cs began their deployment on Mar. 26, 2025.
The Swedish Armed Forces said on X: “Two Swedish JAS39 Gripen have carried out the first sharp mission within the framework of NATO enhanced incident preparedness. The fighter jets took off from the base in Poland and made a visual identification of a Russian IL-20 Coot signals intelligence aircraft.”
The Flygvapnet detachment at Malbork is also joined by RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoons from the IInd Army Cooperation Squadron, assigned to RAF Lossiemouth, with the service designating the deployment as “Operation Chessman.” Malbork is home to the Polish Air Force’s 22nd Tactical Air Base.
For the first time under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing 🇸🇪 Gripen scramble in response to 🇷🇺 aircraft close to NATO airspace
🇸🇪 are currently deployed to Malbork 🇵🇱 alongside the 🇬🇧RAF demonstrating seamless integration, safeguarding the integrity of Allied territory 24/7/365 pic.twitter.com/mwWO2gOtz6
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) April 24, 2025
Latest interception
Images released by the NATO Air Command and the Swedish Armed Forces show a Gripen taking off from Malbork, a standalone shot of the Il-20 and either one or the same Gripen flying a distance ahead of the Russian aircraft. Its tail number could be identified as ‘RF-93611’.
While it can’t be clearly made out, the Gripens are carrying IRIS-T short-range AAMs (Air-to-Air Missile) on the wingtips, and two external fuel tanks on the wing’s inner hardpoints, as well as a Litening targeting pod. The configuration is the same that has been shown on their arrival in Poland, although it is unclear if they were carrying additional AAMs.
Calling it the first “close-in mission” that made a visual identification of the Il-20 Coot over the Baltic Sea north of the Polish coast, the Försvarsmakten’s statement said the operation was led by the NATO’s Combined Air Operation Center (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany. Quick Reaction Alert interceptor aircraft stand ready at dedicated air bases to launch upon the CAOCs’ orders to investigate unclear or potentially unsafe situations and to visually identify unknown aircraft.
The statement further quoted the head of the Swedish contingent, Anders Gustafsson, who said “while being there at the right time to solve the task,” they showed “Sweden is a player that really contributes to further strengthening NATO’s air defense.”
“For the first time, we have solved a critical task from a base abroad under NATO command, which is another milestone in the history of the Swedish Air Force,” Gustafsson added. NATO Air Command said the Swedish interception demonstrated “seamless integration, safeguarding the integrity of Allied territory.”
First live scramble for 🇸🇪 #Gripen squadron deployed to #Poland and #NATO Enhanced Air Policing mission.
Visual identification of 🇷🇺 IL-20 COOT in intl airspace, north of Poland’s #Baltic sea coast.
Swedish national #QRA cooperating.https://t.co/XoduwXUVps pic.twitter.com/180mlG3UNO
— Gripen News (@GripenNews) April 24, 2025
Ilyushin Il-20M Coot-A
The Russian Ilyushin Il-20M (NATO codename Coot-A) is an ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), COMINT (Communications Intelligence) and ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) aircraft. The aircraft carries an EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infra-Red) sensor, SLAR (Side-Looking Airborne Radar), satellite communications transceivers and, according to some leading Kremlin-aligned Russian Telegram channels, long-distance tactical data links to trade real-time information. Russia perceives the aircraft as vital for the security of its exclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea.
The Il-20M was among the Russian aircraft that RAF (Royal Air Force) Typhoon FGR4s from Malbork were scrambled to intercept three times in three days between Apr. 15 and 17. On Apr. 15, two Typhoons were scrambled twice, “first to intercept and identify Ilyushin Il-20M, as they left Kaliningrad air space,” the RAF said. That intercept also involved a Portuguese F-16 from Ämari in Estonia, as the set of images released by NATO Air Command shows.
Then, later in the same day, they were again scrambled to intercept two SU-30SM2 aircraft leaving Kaliningrad. This was followed by a scramble of two RAF Typhoons on Apr. 17 – the third time in three days – to intercept again an Il-20M.
In the comments of NATO’s post about the Apr. 15 intercept, Russian military aviation analyst Guy Plopsky identified one of the Il-20Ms with the tail number ‘RF-95671’. It is not clear if there were more than one Il-20M in the two intercepts and what the tail number of the second Il-20M was.
🇬🇧 Eurofighters from Malbork 🇵🇱 & 🇵🇹 F-16s from Ämari 🇪🇪 scramble in response to 🇷🇺 aircraft not adhering to international safety norms
This is the first time for the new Air Policing detachments, who are safeguarding the integrity of NATO airspace 24/7/365 pic.twitter.com/2o7VlLirRY
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) April 16, 2025
RF-93611 is the ‘usual suspect’
Even more interestingly, RF-93611 (the Il-20M in the latest interception by the Swedes) has been intercepted earlier also by Allied NATO fighters. Its latest reported interceptions were on May 3 and May 6, 2024, over the Baltic Sea, conducted by Polish aircraft.
Bezpieczeństwo przestrzeni powietrznej to jeden z priorytetów #WojskoPolskie. Każdego dnia piloci SZ RP 🇵🇱 czuwają i są w gotowości, aby zapewnić ochronę polskiego nieba.
6 maja 2024 roku para dyżurna MiG-29 z 22 Bazy Lotnictwa Taktycznego w Malborku dokonała przechwycenia oraz… pic.twitter.com/gJ6qegREG1
— Dowództwo Operacyjne RSZ (@DowOperSZ) May 7, 2024
The first interception on May 3 involved a pair of Polish F-16s from the 31st Tactical Air Base in Krzesiny, while, on May 6, a pair of MiG-29s from the 22nd Tactical Air Base on Malbork were involved, according to Milmag.
Unsere #QRA hat eine 🇷🇺 Iljiuschin 20 (COOT-A) über der Ostsee identifiziert. Während des Fluges hat die Maschine mehrmals die Flugrichtung geändert – ein klares Verhalten war nicht vorhersehbar. Wir haben das Flugzeug begleitet und sind dann wieder nach Laage zurück geflogen. pic.twitter.com/DiRSNF0lvy
— Team Luftwaffe (@Team_Luftwaffe) January 27, 2023
Prior to that, the Il-10 was intercepted by two Luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoons on Jan. 27, 2023, from Rostock-Laage Air Base in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, home to the 73rd Steinhoff Tactical Air Squadron (Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73, TLG 73).
