A suspected drone approached French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle outside the Swedish port of Malmö on Wednesday, before being jammed by the Swedish military.
The Charles de Gaulle was in Swedish waters to participate in NATO exercises related to Operation Baltic Sentry.
Le Monde, citing Swedish public television, reported that the drone was Russian – originating from a nearby Russian naval vessel. Neither French nor Swedish authorities have yet confirmed its origin.
However, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told Sweden’s SVT television channel on Thursday evening that it was “probably from Russia, as there was a Russian military vessel in the immediate vicinity at the time of the facts,” according to AFP.
“A drone was jammed yesterday by a Swedish system at about seven nautical miles from the Charles de Gaulle. The Swedish system worked perfectly and this did not disrupt operations on board,” French General Staff spokesman Colonel Guillaume Vernet previously told AFP.
The Swedish authorities were initially similarly noncommittal. In a statement cited by AFP, the military said merely that “a vessel from the Swedish Navy observed a suspected drone during an ongoing maritime patrol.”
“The Swedish Armed Forces took countermeasures to disrupt the suspected drone,” it added. Although there have been no further drone sightings, the incident has triggered an investigation.
It is not known what became of the drone after it was jammed – whether it fell into the sea, left the area, or returned to the Russian vessel waiting nearby.
Any Russian involvement in Wednesday’s incident is unconfirmed. However, there has been an uptick in Russian drone activity across Europe since 19 Russian drones entered Polish airspace without permission on Sept. 10 last year.
Michael Claesson, Swedish Armed Forces defense chief, previously said of his country’s partnership with France that it is “is deep and built on long-term trust.”
“In a time of growing uncertainty in our surrounding world, it is crucial that we continue to develop cooperation with allies who share our view of security, responsibility, and the ability to act,” he said in a Jan. 28 statement.