It turned out that there was a Russian TU-142 in the air – plane long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine. It moved with a fighter escort. German Eurofighters accompanied it over the Baltic Sea, we read in a report published on X.
Not the first time
Such incidents are not uncommon. NATO says alliance planes took off last year 300 times to intercept Russian warplanes approaching NATO airspace.
Most of these incidents occurred over the Baltic Sea. Russia uses international airspace for military flights, which is in line with existing aviation law. According to information German armed forces, Russian military aircraft almost always fly without a recognition signal (“transponder”), which makes them invisible to civilian air traffic control. During the flights, these aircraft approach NATO airspace without violating it. It is assumed that this also tests the Alliance's reaction to such flights.
Rare space violation
A NATO statement issued in late December said the vast majority of “encounters” between NATO aircraft and Russian warplanes over the past year had been “safe and professional.” Violations of NATO airspace by Russian warplanes were rare and usually short-lived.
The German Armed Forces currently have Eurofighters stationed at Lielvarde in Latvia to monitor airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The three Baltic NATO countries do not have their own fighters. Therefore, since 2004, the NATO allies have taken turns securing Baltic airspace.
(DPA/szym)
The text comes from the website German Welle. The author of the article is Wojciech Szymański.