Geopolitics
7 Russian Aircraft Intercepted Over The Baltic Sea
NATO fighters intercepted 7 Russian planes over the Baltic Sea – according to the information released by the Latvian Armed Forces.
Italian and Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons which are currently deployed in Lithuania, within the scope of the NATO Baltic Air Policing operation, intercepted 4 Su-27 Flankers, 2 An-26 Curls and one An-12 Cub, over the Baltic Sea.
The Italian fighters have been deployed to Lithuania, within the scope of the bolstered Baltic Air Policing operation along with the Polish MiG-29 Fulcrums. The Spanish fighters are currently operating from the Amari AB in Estonia. The current Baltic Air Policing rotation also involves the Belgian F-16’s which are stationed at the Polish Malbork AB.
It is worth noting that a large increase of the Russian aerial activity was present also during the last exercise, aim of which was to train the deployment of the Iskander missile systems within the Kaliningrad Oblast. This happened in December last year, within the scope of so called test of combat readiness. As it was reported Tu-95 Bear and Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers were operating over the Baltic Sea at the time, with support provided by the MiG-31 Foxhound, Su-27 Flanker fighters and by the Su-24 Fencer fighter-bombers.