A France Rafale of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission shot down an unknown drone which entered Latvian airspace from Russia.
A Rafale of the French Air and Area Drive, at present deployed to Lithuania as a part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission, shot down an unknown drone which entered Latvian airspace within the morning of June 8, 2026. The incidents follows an identical one final month which noticed Romanian F-16s taking pictures down a drone over Estonia.
The Latvian navy stated the drone entered sovereign airspace from Russian territory “on account of Russian electromagnetic warfare.” It’s unclear if the drone was of Russian or Ukrainian origin.
📍Lettonie | Destruction d’un drone par les Rafale 🇫🇷💥
➡️ Survol d’un drone au dessus du territoire letton 🇱🇻➡️ Décollage sur alerte des chasseurs 🇫🇷 engagés dans la mission de l’OTAN Baltic Air Policing depuis la base aérienne de Šiauliai 🇱🇹➡️ Identification et destruction… pic.twitter.com/NFIMSP7Ibl
— Armée française – Opérations militaires (@EtatMajorFR) June 8, 2026
Whereas authorities alerted the inhabitants to take shelter, Rafales deployed to Šiauliai Air Base had been scrambled to intercept and determine the drone. After the intercept, the NATO command ordered the engagement, stated Latvian Minister of Protection Raivis Melnis, and the drone was shot down at 10:05 native time (07:05 GMT) close to the village of Berzgale, about 30 km (18 miles) from the border.
NATO iznīcinātāji šorīt neitralizēja ārvalstu dronu, kas krievijas elektromagnētiskās karadarbības rezultātā bija ielidojis Latvijas teritorijā 🇱🇻✈️#WeAreNATO #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/07blbd7TUw
— NBS (@Latvijas_armija) June 8, 2026
A video allegedly reveals the second one of many Rafales opened fireplace, launching an air-to-air missile on the drone. No accidents or injury to property had been reported.
🇱🇻 Rogovkā, Rēzeknes novadā notriekts lidrobots. NBS apstiprina.🎥 Aija#Rogovka #Rēzekne #Latvija pic.twitter.com/6dcFA9JWw7
— BreakingLV (@breakinglv) June 8, 2026
Latvia publicly thanked NATO and France for countering this risk, with Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs praising “decisive and extremely skilled motion” to make sure the nation’s safety.
Paldies mūsu NATO sabiedrotajiem no Francijas par izlēmīgu un profesionālu rīcību, nodrošinot Latvijas un NATO austrumu robežas drošību.
Thanks, our French Allies, for the decisive and extremely skilled motion in neutralising the drone that entered Latvian airspace.…
— Evika Siliņa 🇱🇻🇺🇦 (@EvikaSilina) June 8, 2026
A latest related incident
Lower than a month in the past, on Might 19, 2026, Estonian Protection Forces introduced that Romanian F-16 Preventing Falcons shot down a drone which entered Estonian airspace. Equally to the incident in Latvia, “circumstances of heavy digital warfare, together with GPS spoofing and jamming, by Russia” had been reported.
In accordance with the assertion, air surveillance models had been monitoring the drone because it approached Estonian airspace. The drone was detected at 12.00PM native time, coming into “Estonian airspace from Russian airspace in the South-Jap nook of Estonia, heading in the direction of North-East.”
The Romanian F-16s, at present deployed to Lithuania as a part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission, intercepted the drone “South of Põltsamaa city.” Following visible identification, “the jets fired a single missile to neutralize the risk, downing the unmanned aerial system at 12.14PM native time.”
After Estonia stated the drone was “possible of Ukrainian origin,” Ukraine issued a public apology for the incident, calling it “unintended” and saying the drone was redirected within the Baltic area by digital warfare. The nation additionally confirmed, as talked about beforehand by the Baltic states, that neither Estonia, nor Latvia, Lithuania, of Finland have ever allowed to make use of their airspace for strikes in opposition to Russia, and that Ukraine has by no means requested such a use.
Baltic Air Policing
The Romanian Air Drive deployed six F-16s to Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, along with 100 personnel. The plane exchange the Spanish Air Drive detachment which was beforehand within the Baltic area.
The F-16s are deployed alongside a detachment of 4 Rafales from the French Air and Area Drive, which function from the identical base as a part of the service’s ninth rotation there. Each detachments are built-in inside NATO’s Command and Management buildings to take care of Fast Response Alert and safeguard Allied airspace.
Allied airpower demonstrated NATO’s readiness throughout eVA EASTERN SENTRY over the Baltic area, strengthening Multi-Area Integration and Counter A2/AD capabilities.
🇷🇴 Romanian F-16s operated alongside 🇫🇷 Rafale and Mirage 2000D plane, supported by NATO ISR and aerial… pic.twitter.com/Mv1CfgCIkz
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) Might 26, 2026
Just lately, NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) led counter-drone coaching over Lithuania and Latvia on Might 27, 2026, as a part of enhanced Vigilance Exercise (eVA) Jap Sentry. The train concerned Romanian and Portuguese F-16 fighters, Lithuanian surface-based air and missile protection models (SBAMD), Spanish Nationwide Superior Floor-to-Air Missile Techniques (NSAMS) and a Romanian Patriot system in a counter-unmanned aerial system (c-UAS) state of affairs targeted on Built-in Air and Missile Protection (IAMD).
Final week, the BAP detachment performed a number of intercepts of Russian plane, counting a complete of 11 scrambles, stated a French spokesperson. On June 2 alone, French fighters intercepted six completely different plane.
On 2 June, two French🇫🇷 @Armee_de_lair fighters from Baltic Air Policing, scrambled from Šiauliai Air Base 🇱🇹 to conduct a number of interceptions involving six Russian 🇷🇺 plane working throughout the Baltic Space of Duty:
1 x Su-35 fighter aircraft1 x Il-76 navy… pic.twitter.com/j0Y1O52bXq
— NATO Air Command (@NATO_AIRCOM) June 4, 2026
