The incident happened this week during a night flight over the Baltic Sea while the aircraft was patrolling international waters as part of NATO’s new “Baltic Sentry” mission.
A French Navy’s Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) was locked by a Russian S-400 air defense system while flying over international waters of the Baltic Sea in the night between Jan. 15 and 16, 2025. The aircraft was also subjected to jamming by the Russians, according to some reports, although this was not confirmed.
The French Minister of Armed Forces, Sebastien Lecornu, said that the aircraft “was the target of Russian intimidation” and the “aggressive Russian action is unacceptable.” His comments were echoed by Colonel Guillaume Vernet, spokesman for the French Armed Forces: “Illuminating our aircraft in international waters with radar is an aggressive action. The professional attitude of the crew prevented any escalation“.
Dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi, un avion de patrouille maritime Atlantique 2 français a été la cible de mesures d’intimidation russes.
Il patrouillait en espace aérien international au-dessus de la mer baltique, dans le cadre d’une opération de l’OTAN, et a été illuminé par le…
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) January 17, 2025
Vernet and U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said such incidents are not uncommon, with the latter describing them as “widespread” and “quite serious.” This incident also follows another incident where a Russian warship operating in the Baltic Sea fired ‘signal ammunition’ at a German military helicopter.
The flight
The Atlantique 2 took off from its homebase of Lann-Bihoué in Brittany, France, on Jan. 15 before heading to the Baltic as part of a NATO mission. Although it was not specified by the Minister, this could be NATO’s recently established “Baltic Sentry” mission.
The MPA reportedly spent five hours off the coast of Sweden and Baltic countries, monitoring maritime activity and inspecting around 200 vessels, primarily civilian, before flying back to base. A French King Air 350 VADOR Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft and a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon MPA were also reported in the area at the time.
Considering the area of operations, the ATL2 might have crossed the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) of Kaliningrad. However, this also extends over international waters, as ADIZs usually go well over the 12 nautical miles from the coast which usually define the border of national waters and airspace.
Baltic Sentry
NATO has been increasing its presence in the Baltic region as a response to rising threats, especially after the sabotage of several undersea cables in the area like the Eastlink 2. MPAs were already a common presence over the Baltic Sea to ensure the safety of navigation, as well as to keep an eye on Russian vessels sailing through the area.
In order to enhance the protection of Critical Underwater Infrastructure (CUI), the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, announced the new Baltic Sentry mission. The goal is to deter any future attempts to damage CUI by reinforcing the surveillance, under the coordination of the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum and Allied Command Operations.
The statement describes Baltic Sentry as multi-domain activity which will continue for an undisclosed amount of time. NATO specifically says it is in response to damage to undersea cables connecting Estonia and Finland on Dec. 25, 2024, and follows a declaration of solidarity by Allies with the two countries on Dec. 30, and the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, on Jan. 14, 2025.
“Baltic Sentry will deliver focused deterrence throughout the Baltic Sea and counter destabilizing acts like those observed last month,” said U.S. Army General Christopher G. Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe. “It is indicative of the Alliance’s ability to rapidly respond to such destabilization, and shows the strength of our unity in the face of any challenge.”
The Atlantique 2
Commissioned in the early 1990s, the French DGA (Directorate General of Armaments) describes the Atlantique 2 (ATL2) as a very long-range, twin-engine, multi-mission aircraft. The twin-turboprop engine plane can perform “low to high intensity” anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship and intelligence gathering missions.
The ongoing upgrade project to the standard 6, which involves a total of 18 aircraft out of the 22 in service and is scheduled to be completed by 2025, “restores the aircraft’s performance, particularly in underwater warfare,” says the DGA. The new equipment includes the new Searchmaster radar, featuring an active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology developed by Thales for the Rafale.
In addition to the Searchmaster surveillance radar, the ATL2 is also equipped with a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera under the nose, an MX-20 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor turret below the rear fuselage, a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) in the tail and wingtip electronic support measures (ESM) pods. The MAD and ESM are employed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and signal intelligence (SIGINT), respectively.
The aircraft has a total crew of 14, of which four in the cockpit and the remaining ten are the mission crew. The ATL can boast a range of 4,300 nautical miles and an endurance of 14 hours, which makes it an ideal surveillance asset. The Atlantique also operates in support of ground troops during overland missions.
