Yes, as a result the Russian forces are getting nervous:
L’État-major des armées précise que les forces russes ont menacé d’abattre un E-3F AWACS
The Joint Chiefs of Staff state that Russian forces have threatened to shoot down an E-3F AWACS aircraft
On 22 February, after denouncing Russia's "increasingly aggressive" behaviour towards France in the pages of the Journal du Dimanche [18/02], the Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, gave an example of this attitude on RTL.
"A month ago, [...] a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea even though they were in an internationally free zone", he revealed. "Clearly, you have Russian operators threatening French pilots to shoot down their aircraft", he insisted, without giving any further details.
Later, at its weekly operations update, the French Armed Forces General Staff [EMA] said that the incident referred to by Mr Lecornu had involved an E-3F AWACS early warning aircraft from the 36th Airborne Command and Control Wing [EC2A] of the French Air & Space Force [AAE].
"It was a particularly aggressive radio exchange", explained the EMA, before stressing that such an attempt at intimidation in this region was "a first".
According to the operational status updates published last month by the EMA, an E-3F AWACS was in Romania on 9 January, carrying out an 'Air Shielding' mission. This aircraft was engaged in a "detection and control mission, making a full contribution to testing the interoperability of resources between Alliance members. These missions contribute to the surveillance of the skies over the Alliance and provide France with an autonomous capability to assess the situation in this area", it was explained.
Generally speaking, the aircraft sent on missions over the Black Sea are Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and Vador ALSRs [light surveillance and intelligence aircraft]. As the Minister used the plural in his remarks, we could assume that the Russian threats had been addressed to a patrol of Mirage 2000Ds [with an ASTAC electronic warfare pod] or Rafales.
The E-3F AWACS is operated by a crew of eighteen, including two pilots, a navigator, a flight engineer and fourteen controllers, operators and technicians. Its rotodome houses two antennae: the AN/APY-2 multimode primary radar, capable of detecting air and sea targets, and the IFF [Identification Friend or Foe] interrogator. Its detection range in air mode is over 400 km. Thanks to its Doppler mode, it is able to discriminate between low-flying targets.
While they probably felt that this E-3F AWACS had the mission of gathering information on their movements, the fact that the Russian forces threatened this aircraft is not insignificant.
In October 2022, for example, they intimidated a British RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft, with an Su-27 Flanker even firing a missile [the pilot allegedly misinterpreted his instructions...]. After this incident, the Royal Air Force [RAF] decided that Eurofighter Typhoons would escort this type of aircraft on every mission to the Black Sea. However, such a measure consumes potential and mobilises fighter aircraft that are undoubtedly more useful elsewhere...
Be that as it may, the Russian threats against the E-3F of the 36th EC2A "did not prevent this type of mission from being rescheduled", according to the EMA, which was once again keen to point out that the incident in question occurred over "international waters, in full compliance with international law".
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