A Russian fighter jet conducted low-altitude passes near a United States Navy ship in the Baltic Sea on Sunday, prompting a rapid response from Royal Air Force Typhoons deployed under NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission.
The incident occurred on 8 June, when RAF Typhoon FGR4 aircraft based at Malbork Air Base in Poland were scrambled to intercept two unidentified aircraft leaving Kaliningrad airspace. Upon interception, the aircraft were identified as a pair of armed Russian Su-24M ‘FENCER D’ tactical bombers.
According to the RAF, once the Typhoons established visual contact, the Russian jets split formation. One Su-24 then proceeded to conduct low-level manoeuvres near the USNS William McLean, a Military Sealift Command vessel operating in international waters.
The USNS William McLean is a 210-metre-long Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship operated by the United States Navy’s Military Sealift Command, designed to deliver ammunition, food, fuel, spare parts, and other dry cargo to naval battle groups at sea, with a cargo capacity of approximately 6,005 tonnes and equipped with both underway replenishment and vertical replenishment capabilities to support sustained maritime operations.
RAF Typhoons continued to shadow the FENCER aircraft until they left the vicinity of the NATO vessel. While the precise altitude of the Russian passes has not been disclosed, the event is being viewed within NATO circles as a deliberate act of intimidation, following a pattern of increased Russian military activity near alliance borders.
This was part of a wider surge in intercept activity during the week, with RAF aircraft scrambled six times over six consecutive days, intercepting 15 Russian aircraft—including intelligence-gathering Il-20 ‘COOT A’, An-30 ‘CLANK’ reconnaissance aircraft, and Tu-142 maritime patrol bombers escorted by Su-27 fighters.
Personnel from across the RAF are deployed to Poland as part of Operation CHESSMAN, under the command of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing. The UK contingent is working closely with allies—including the United States and NATO’s newest member, Sweden—to maintain airspace integrity and deter aggressive behaviour.
The aircraft involved
The Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing multirole combat aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force. It is capable of both air superiority and ground attack missions. Powered by two EJ200 turbofan engines, the Typhoon can reach speeds of over Mach 2.0 and has a combat radius of approximately 1,390 km. It is equipped with the Captor-M radar, PIRATE infrared search and track system, and a comprehensive Defensive Aids Sub-System (DASS). The aircraft carries a wide array of weapons including AMRAAM, ASRAAM, Paveway IV, and Brimstone missiles.
The Sukhoi Su-24M, known by its NATO designation Fencer D, is a supersonic, all-weather tactical bomber developed by the Soviet Union. It features variable-geometry wings and is powered by two AL-21F-3A afterburning turbojet engines. With a top speed of Mach 1.4 and a combat radius of around 600–1,100 km depending on payload, the Su-24M is designed for low-level penetration and precision strike missions. It can carry a variety of ordnance including guided missiles, free-fall bombs, and electronic warfare pods. The aircraft typically requires a two-person crew and is equipped with terrain-following radar and targeting systems for low-altitude flight in contested environments.
“Mig 24’s, they’ve never been that close before, I’m switching to guns”.
(I know, they aren’t Migs).
“One mistake is all it takes”.
Kaliningrad is an annoying blip on the map that needs re-aligning with its geographical position.
Should go back to Germany or Poland in reality, but Russia only wants to add to its colonies not release them.
Those countries have no wish for a ruzzian population nor decades of deferred maintenance to resolve.
Kaliningrad best chance is to declare independence from RF at the point of RF economic collapse in a 1917 style.
Finland hasn’t looked back…
EU membership the obvious next step.
I still think of it as Konigsberg!
And the Amber Room.
They daren’t open fire the last time they did that last week one shot it’s wingman down. You couldn’t make up the lack of professionalism of these guys and that’s the biggest danger.
What?? I didn’t hear about this?
That innocent American war ship just gently sailing off the coast of Kaliningrad and Russia were rudly checking them out.
International waters, Ivan.
Was it doing a fly past for the orange messiahs birthday??
Splash the bogey
You don’t poke the Bear, you cage it.
Or just kill it. The only good Russian is a dead Russian.
There are plenty of nice Russians.
And Ukraine has hundreds of thousands more.
Putin’s sabres are rattling again. A total lack of action from the Allies against Putin emboldens him every day. This photo doesn’t show the actual event itself – but the UK moving hardware to the Middle East in ‘Contingency Support’. Come on UKDJ, if you don’t have the real photos, use stock photos.
What a deceptive title! These British jets didn’t “fend off” anything! They simply shadowed the Russian planes until they completed their mission and left on their own. The British jets were politely staying out of the way because they were afraid to do anything and get shot down. Undoubtedly there were SU-57s at high altitude and invisible to radar monitoring the whole situation. One wrong move fromt the Brits and they would get shot down. That’s the likely scenario. You people are so used to lying you just don’t see the situation for what it is.
Yeah.
You’re insight is amazing.
Knobber….
What you people need to know that Russia is not our enemy, It all started back in 2014 with a coup then the Maidan orchestrated by the US and Victoria Nuland, please take a look at the 17 un-cut parts of ‘Rose’s Have Thorns’ all taken during the 2014 EuroMaidan they are a bit longwinded but well worth a look, if you haven’t got time to check them all out just try Part 6 ‘The Odessa Masacre’ here you will see how animals perform; you will never see this on our British TV as for some unknown reason we are told that Ukrainians are the good people and Russians are the nasty bunch, everything we see on our TV is one sided.