Another busy week for Baltic air police / Article

Between November 10th and 16th, NATO fighter jets performing air policing functions in the Baltic States took off four times to identify and escort Russian Federation aircraft that violated flight rules, according to an update from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence.

On November 10th, NATO fighters took off to identify one SU-24 and one SU-33 aircraft flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The aircraft were flying without active transponders, without flight plans, and did not maintain radio contact with the Regional Flight Control Center, displaying Russia’s usual disregard for international safety standards.

On November 11th and 13th, NATO air policing fighters flew to inspect unidentified objects in Lithuanian airspace. In neither case was the object found. It should be noted that recently Lithuania has been plagued by balloons originating in Belarus, though the Defence Ministry drew no overt connection to this trend and the scrambling of the interceptor jets.

On November 14th, NATO air policing fighters flew to identify one SU-24MR aircraft and one SU-33 aircraft. As previously, the aircraft were flying in international airspace without transponders turned on, without flight plans, and did not maintain radio contact with the Regional Flight Control Center.

Under the auspices of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, NATO Allies take turns deploying to air bases at Šiauliai, Lithuania and Ämari, Estonia, on a four-month rotational basis, ready to be launched by NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem, Germany if required. The Air Forces of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia contribute to the mission with host nation support in the form of air command and control infrastructure and personnel, but they lack suitable aircraft of their own.

Fighter aircraft assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission are often launched to visually identify Russian Federation Air Force aircraft. A high proportion of Russian Federation Air Force flight activity is due to the geographical situation of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad; Russian Federation Air Force aircraft regularly fly from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad and vice versa. They often approach or fly near NATO airspace without using transponders, communicating with Air Traffic Control or having filed a flight plan.

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