NATO scrambled two Hungarian JAS-39 Gripens after an Arkia Airbus A321 flying from Tel Aviv to Prague briefly lost radio contact over Hungary on 12 June 2026.
The jets established visual contact, restored communications, and escorted the aircraft to the edge of Hungarian airspace before it continued toward Austria. The alert triggered the alliance’s standard air-policing posture at the highest readiness level, treating the silence as a precautionary defence event rather than a confirmed threat. The aircraft reached the Hungarian border area at about 20:10 local time, and the Gripens returned to Kecskemét airbase.
The cause of the communications failure remains unexplained. For operators, the incident shows how fast NATO can turn a routine contact anomaly into a live interceptor response.