WARSAW, May 13 (Reuters) - Poland said its airforce intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea, calling the Russian flight a provocation and potential threat.

The military alliance routinely scrambles fighter aircraft to intercept Russian warplanes that approach or fly near NATO airspace. NATO says the Russian planes it intercepts often fail to use their transponders and don't communicate with air traffic controllers or file a flight plan. NATO jets are sent up to identify them.

Authorities have scrambled four Rafale B fighters as part of an 'enhanced Air Policing Mission' over the Baltic Sea with six Russian planes escorted away

Our aircraft intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea. This is another aggressive action by the Russian Federation and a test of our air defense systems,

A proposed Russian interceptor often called the MiG-41 is back in the conversation because some commentators argue it may need to fly without a pilot. The logic is blunt: at extreme speed and altitude, reaction time collapses and high-G maneuvers can turn a human into the limiting factor.

Many of the Russian flights that NATO monitors with its Baltic air policing mission, in place since Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the alliance in 2004, are to and from the Russian exclave of

Drones have repeatedly breached NATO airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

Russia added longer launch rails at a drone base to support newer variants of its Geran family of loitering munitions, satellite images show.