The Estonian Ministry of Defense confirmed information about issues with a U.S. Air Force drone in Estonian airspace. The details of the incident are not being disclosed, but it is known that the U.S. strategic surveillance drone RQ-4B Global Hawk was able to land despite the disturbances. The issue of Russian signals interference affects both military and civilian aviation in the Baltic region, the Ministry of Defense notes.
Russian media reported on September 1 that Russian military personnel were able to interfere with U.S. military intelligence operations in Estonia. State media reported issues with the control of a strategic spy drone.
“The spy drone tirelessly looped along the Russian Federation's border from the Leningrad region to Pskov. Then, it suddenly signaled that it had lost contact with the operator and maneuvered chaotically for a while,” Russian media reported, without specifying when the incident occurred.
According to Russian media, the drone in question was a U.S. Air Force RQ-4B Global Hawk.
“The device’s actions regained purpose, it returned to base, and landed in normal mode. Preliminary information suggests that the strange behavior of the Global Hawk was caused by the effects of Russian electronic warfare systems,” the report stated.
The article included a map showing the RQ-4B Global Hawk’s flight path, but no source for the information was provided, making it impossible to verify the accuracy of the depicted route.
The Estonian newspaper Postimees reached out to the Estonian Ministry of Defense regarding the incident.
“NATO allies’ (unmanned) aircraft regularly conduct exercises in Estonian airspace, and such flights are coordinated in advance,” responded Estonian Air Force spokesperson Siim Verner Teder when asked whether the Ministry could confirm that the RQ-4B Global Hawk drone flew over Estonia last week.