For the first time in five years, Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons intercepted the rare aircraft, along with Su-30SM2s, as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission.
A Tupolev Tu-134UBL – or Tu-134A-4 as some Russian military aviation analysts have pointed out – was among at least four Russian military aircraft intercepted recently by Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) F-2000As (Italian MoD designation for the Eurofighter Typhoon). The jets are deployed for NATO’s Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission and Operation Eastern Sentry at Ämari, Estonia.
This is the second time since February 2020 the rare Russian aircraft has been intercepted. The twin-engine jet is a derivative of the Soviet-era Tu-134 narrow-body airliner that first flew in July 1963.
The Tu-134UB-L variant trained Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers aircrews, as denoted by the nose cone shaped exactly like the Tu-22’s. As it now turns out, the aircraft has now also assumed a VIP passenger transport role too, represented by the Tu-134A-4 designation.
NATO Air Command shared the images on social media on Nov. 21, 2025, showing the Tupolev jet accompanied by two Su-30SM2s of the Russian Navy, as well as a Su-24MR Fencer, and implied the encounters did not take place the same day.
“Over the last week, Italian jets deployed at Amari [Estonia], scrambled to intercept multiple Russian assets. NATO Air Policing in the Baltic region ensures security of NATO airspace under Eastern Sentry. Eastern Sentry is enhancing flexibility and strength to NATO’s posture on the eastern flank.”
– NATO AIRCOM
Here we see a Russian Naval Aviation (MA VMF) Tu-134A-4 (B/N “53” White / RF-12041) accompanied by a pair of Su-30SM2s. https://t.co/cdEvNGqhlR pic.twitter.com/Wkl9UVFKEt
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) November 22, 2025
February 2020 NATO BAP interception
As we reported here at The Aviationist in February 2020, the aircraft, nicknamed “Black Pearl” and with NATO reporting codename Crusty-B, was intercepted for the first time. However, it has been spotted a few times within Russia before and after that.
The February 2020 interception was conducted by four Belgian Air Force F-16AM jets operating from Siauliai, Lithuania, as part of the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission. During the sortie, they also encountered another Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft.
The BAF at the time also shared an IR image of the rare plane from the F-16’s Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, along with a file photo of the same aircraft taking off in 2019. This is possibly a screengrab of a video from Mar. 26, 2019, on YouTube. The BAF also identified the bomber training role in its post on social media on Feb. 14.
The aircraft has a jet black paint scheme, with stripes of the Russian flag’s colors running across its lower fuselage – thus the name the “Black Pearl.”
Our F-16’s spotted quite a rare bird in the Baltic skies last week! This unique Tu-134 UBL “Crusty-B”, nicknamed ‘Black Pearl’ after its colour, is commonly used to train pilots and navigators from Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 strategic nuclear-capable bombers. #BAF #BAP #F16 #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/2hKHumz10c
— Belgian Air Force🇧🇪 (@BeAirForce) February 14, 2020
Latest interception
Regarding the latest intercept, leading Russian aerospace expert Guy Plopsky, while speaking to The Aviationist, identified the aircraft as the Tu-134A-4 with Bort No. 53 and registration RF-12041. The 2019 screengrab shared by the BAF showed the same RF-12041 registration.
Plopsky also shared with us a close up image showing the ‘Tu-134A-4’ designation emblazoned on the starboard-side upper cheek behind the cockpit. He further confirmed in his X post the other two aircraft were Russian Naval Aviation Su-30SM2s, which were flying without weapons on board.
The fourth aircraft shown in NATO’s post is a Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, possibly the MR (Maritime Reconnaissance) variant.
The rare ‘Black Pearl’
Coming back to the Tu-134UBL/Tu-134A-4, Plopsky drew attention to the Tu-134A-4 marking in cyrillic/Russian script and responded in the affirmative when asked about if the aircraft was meant as a VIP transport for senior military officers, clarifying it “was [used] to train Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 pilots.”
The operative word being “was” suggests that the Tu-134A-4 designation may have been chosen following the conclusion of the supersonic strategic bomber training role. Another possibility is that the Tu-134A-4 could be airframes specially built for the passenger role, but such an endeavor is costly and tedious, however, since there are no official confirmations, this would only be speculation.
An image from July 2010 from Moscow published on RUSSIANPLANES captures the Tu-134UB-L with a blue, white and light-grey paint scheme, showing the different roles of the ‘UB-L’ and the ‘A-4’. Plopsky also identified the flag behind the cockpit as the Russian naval flag, and surmised it could represent the commander of the Russian Federation Navy. This can be judged by the national coat of arms/emblem on the naval ensign, as is the practice in many militaries and navies.
The March 2019 YouTube video’s description said the location where the video was captured was the Minsk Civil Aviation Plant No. 407 in Belarus. The description further stated: “The aircraft was designed to train cadets on Tu-22M3 and Tu-160 bombers. It is currently used as a passenger aircraft for transporting personnel.” The Tu-134UBL/Tu-134A-4 in this clip is the same RF-12041.
Another spotter’s video from May 25, 2024, shows another airframe, RF-12037 (Bort No. 54), landing and taxing at an unidentified airport, meaning there are at least two airframes in service for the VIP transport role. According to Russia’s Warplanes Vol. 2 by Piotr Butowski, a total 109 Tu-134UBL were built, with the first one making its maiden flight in March 1981.
NATO BAP
The Black Pearl’s presence over the Baltics is rare, given that the usual Russian aircraft intercepted here are the Tu-95 Bear, Su-35S, Su-27 and the Il-20 Coot SIGINT (Signals Intelligence Aircraft). Given the location where the aircraft was intercepted, it might have been flying from or to the Kaliningrad exclave in the Baltic Sea. Kaliningrad is home to the Baltic Sea Fleet, so the Tu-134A-4 could be carrying senior commanders, and in that case is not unusual.
The Italian Air Force (ItAF) F-2000As, meanwhile, are a part of the new ItAF deployment that replaced the service’s previous F-35A Lightning II two-month deployment on Sep. 29, 2025, at Amari, Estonia. The ItAF F-35s “successfully carried out around 10 A-scramble, over 150 sorties and 300 flying hours, underscoring NATO’s quick-reaction capability in a critical area,” NATO said.
This week 🇮🇹 Eurofighters based in 🇪🇪 and the 🇭🇺 Gripens located in 🇱🇹 scrambled to monitor 🇷🇺 aircraft flying close to NATO airspace
NATO’s air policing assets in 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 remain steadfast as they continue to safeguard the integrity of NATO airspace from any potential threat. pic.twitter.com/TPAm6FCksv
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) October 9, 2025
“The mission at Ämari Air Base will now continue with the deployment of the Italian Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoons maintaining the robust capabilities of the NATO Air Policing mission [confirming] the steadfast commitment to […] ensuring uninterrupted air security over the Baltic skies,” said a statement.
