NATO fighter jets were scrambled three times to intercept Russian aircraft over Baltic region
Last week, NATO fighter jets carrying out an air policing mission in the Baltic states were scrambled on three occasions to identify and escort Russian military aircraft flying in international airspace.
This was reported on Monday by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, according to Censor.NET.
Details
On 13 July, NATO fighter jets were scrambled to identify two Su-30 fighter jets flying from the Kaliningrad region to mainland Russia. The aircraft were flying with their radar transponders switched on but without flight plans, whilst maintaining contact with the Regional Flight Control Centre (RFCC).
On 14 July, NATO air policing fighter jets identified an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft that had taken off from the Kaliningrad region and returned. The aircraft was flying with its transponder switched off, without a flight plan, and was not maintaining radio contact with air traffic control.
Other cases
On the same day, NATO fighter jets identified an Il-76 transport aircraft flying from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad region. It was flying with its transponder switched on, without a flight plan, but was maintaining radio contact with the Air Traffic Control Centre.
- Last Friday, NATO fighter jets were also scrambled to identify an Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft which was flying without its transponder switched on and without a flight plan, but was in contact with the Air Traffic Control Centre.
