A NATO Italian Eurofighter Typhoon has shot down an unidentified drone after it entered Latvian airspace early on Friday morning, with Latvian forces now searching for wreckage to establish the aircraft’s identity and origin.
The drone was intercepted over Rug?ji parish in Latvia’s Balvi district, a sparsely populated area of forests and swamps. Latvian Defence Minister Raivis Melnis said the decision to destroy it was taken because allowing the unmanned aircraft to continue flying posed an unacceptable potential risk to people on the ground.
NATO confirmed that two Italian Eurofighters from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania and two Turkish F-16s from Ämari Air Base in Estonia were scrambled in response to the intrusion. After the drone had been positively identified, one of the Italian fighters neutralised it.
The interception was coordinated with NATO’s Joint Air Operations Centre in Germany and Allied Air Command at Ramstein Air Base.
Latvia’s National Guard is searching the area for debris, which will be examined in an effort to determine the drone’s type and origin. The aircraft was brought down around 20 kilometres from the town of Balvi.
Some local residents reported hearing the fighter aircraft, while others said they witnessed the interception. The defence minister rejected reports circulating on social media that several drones had been detected, saying authorities had so far recorded only one.
The incident represents another test of NATO’s air-policing and air-defence capabilities along its eastern flank, where unidentified drones and other incursions have become an increasing security concern.