Forward Deployed French Rafale Fighters Engage Russian Su-24M Strike Jets Over Baltic Sea

French Air Force Rafale fighters have intercepted to Russian Aerospace Forces Su-24M strike fighters over the Baltic Sea, marking the latest in multiple recent engagements between Western Bloc and Russian combat aircraft in the region. The French fighters had assumed a new rotation for Baltic Air Policing in the first week of April, arriving at Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania located just 130 kilometres from Russian territory. In mid-April the aircraft engaged Russian Su-30SM fighters, as well as an accompanying Il-20M electronic intelligence aircraft, which are thought to be operated by the Russian Navy from facilities in the Kaliningrad region.

The latest engagement has occurred at a time of high tensions between France and Russia not only in the European theatre, but also in West Africa, where Russian aviation assets including Su-24M units have very recently played a central role in repelling advances by Western-backed insurgents against the Malian government. This followed Mali’s expulsion of European forces from its territory and its formation of close strategic ties to Russia near the beginning of the decade, mirroring broader trends seen across multiple West African states. The expulsion of French influence in key resource rich African regions is projected to have devastating consequences for the country’s economy and that of Europe more broadly. In parallel to conflict in West Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron has also led calls for an expanded Western intervention in the Ukrainian theatre, and on multiple occasions stated that greater deployments of ground forces in Ukraine are not ruled out as part of a policy to “do everything necessary to prevent Russia from winning this war.” This has refelcted the broader state of relations between Paris and Moscow.

The engagement between the Rafale and the Su-24M is the latest of several between NATO and Russian aircraft, with Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters having been scrambled on April 20 to intercept Russian Su-30SM fighters, which were escorting Tu-22M3 strategic bombers over international waters in the Baltic Sea. This followed the deployment of a Gripen fighter on April 10 to intercept a Russian Navy Kilo class attack submarine. The incident also closely followed the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s scrambling of F-35A fifth generation fighters to intercept a Russian Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft over the nearby Barents Sea. On May 1 the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Tu-95MS bombers were reported to have been intercepted by fighters from multiple NATO member states over both the Barent Sea and the Norwegian Sea.