The UK and Germany are conducting joint air policing missions in Estonia as part of NATO efforts to bolster its eastern flank in response to Russia.
Britain’s defense ministry said the Typhoon jets responded Tuesday after a Russian air-to-air refueling aircraft failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control. The Russian plane didn’t enter the airspace of Estonia, a NATO member.
UK and German planes are patrolling together as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission until the end of April.
Wing Commander Scott Maccoll, Commander of the RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, said “it was great to see the UK and German elements operate as one team.”
UK armed forces minister James Heappey said “this joint UK and German deployment in the Baltics clearly demonstrates our collective resolve to challenge any potential threat to NATO’s borders, whilst demonstrating our combined strength.”
Such interceptions are routine — — even before Russia invaded Ukraine last year, NATO planes were involved in about 400 interceptions a year with Russian aircraft. But the incident comes amid heightened tensions after a collision between a Russian jet and a US drone over the Black Sea.
Washington and Moscow gave conflicting accounts of Tuesday’s incident. The US said a Russian Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of a MQ-9 Reaper drone, and US forces had to bring down the unmanned craft. Russia said the drone crashed after making a “sharp maneuver.”
The incident appeared to be the first time since the height of the Cold War that a US aircraft was brought down after an encounter with a Russian warplane. It highlighted the risk of confrontation between Russia and the West amid the war in Ukraine.
Two Dutch F-35 fighters intercepted a formation of three Russian military aircraft over Poland and escorted them out, the Netherlands’ defense ministry said in a statement late on Monday( February 14,2023).
“The then unknown aircraft approached the Polish NATO area of responsibility from Kaliningrad,” according to Reuters’ translation of the ministry’s statement.
Kaliningrad is a Russian Baltic coast enclave located between NATO and European Union members Poland and Lithuania.
“After identification, it turned out to be three aircraft: a Russian IL-20M Coot-A that was escorted by two Su-27 Flankers. The Dutch F-35s escorted the formation from a distance and handed over the escort to NATO partners.”
The Il-20M Coot-A is NATO’s reporting name for the Russian Ilyushin Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft while the Su-27 Flankers are NATO’s reporting name for the Sukhoi Su-28 fighter aircraft.
Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment.
The Netherlands’ defense ministry said that eight Dutch F-35s are stationed in Poland for February and March.
