This is when RAF Typhoon fighter jets intercepted Russian fighter jets approaching Estonian airspace.
The British jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and two SU-27 Flankers on Wednesday afternoon, the RAF said, after Moscow’s jets “failed to meet international communications standards”.
Estonia, a former Soviet state, borders Russia and is one of 31 members of NATO, and has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest financiers since Russia’s invasion.
The RAF Tycoons that intercepted the Russian jets were from the 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, currently deployed to the country and conducting NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission – part of NATO’s largest air exercise this year.
“RAF Typhoons from 140 EAW in Estonia were scrambled this afternoon to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A and 2x Su-27 FLANKER B flying close to NATO airspace,” the British air force said in a message. on Twitter.
This is when RAF Typhoon fighter jets (bottom) intercepted Russian fighter jets (top) approaching Estonian airspace
Pictured: A Russian SU-27 fighter jet, one of several Russian aircraft intercepted by RAF fighters near Estonian – and therefore NATO – airspace on Wednesday afternoon
The British jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian Air Force IL-20 COOT A (right) and two SU-27 Flankers (left) on Wednesday afternoon, the RAF said, after Moscow’s jets ‘failed to meet international communication standards’ .
“Russian aircraft failed to meet international standards by not maintaining contact with relevant FIRs,” it wrote, adding #WeAreNato along with photos of the jets.
The RAF has acted a number of times since the outbreak of war in Ukraine to deter Russian aircraft from breaching NATO airspace.
On 9 June, British jets were scrambled for the second time in 24 hours when Typhoons intercepted an Antonov An-12 Cub and an Antonov An-72 Coaler flying south from mainland Russia towards Kaliningrad Oblast.
The same fighters were then re-tasked to intercept two Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers and two Su-30SM Flanker H fighters flying from mainland Russia over the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, the RAF said.
This came after RAF Typhoons and Swedish Air Force Gripens intercepted a Russian Air Force IL-20 Coot A and a Su-27 Flanker on Thursday. The Russian jets flew near Swedish airspace on this occasion.
And in a sign of tensions in the skies around Ukraine, it was revealed earlier this year that a Russian fighter jet attempted to down a manned RAF jet over the Black Sea in what could have amounted to an act of war.
“Russian aircraft failed to meet international standards by not maintaining contact with relevant FIRs,” they wrote on Twitter, adding: #WeAreNato along with photos of the jets
Fortunately, the missile malfunctioned during an incident that U.S. defense officials revealed today was much more serious than first thought.
The Su-27’s blundering pilot mistakenly believed that a radar operator on the ground had given him permission to fire on and bring down the British jet on September 29.
The Russian jet locked onto the RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft and released – but the deadly missile failed to launch properly and missed. It was previously believed that the missile was launched accidentally – not an intentional act of war.
Meanwhile NATO began its largest-ever air force deployment exercise in Europe on Monday, as part of a show of strength in the air.
The German-led ‘Air Defender 23’ will include some 250 military aircraft from 25 NATO and partner countries, including Japan and Sweden, bidding to join the alliance. This runs until June 23.
Up to 10,000 military personnel will participate in the exercises designed to increase interoperability and readiness to protect against drones and cruise missiles in the event of an attack on NATO territory.
US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann said the move shows all world leaders, including Putin, the “strength of this alliance.”
“The important message we are sending is that we can defend ourselves,” Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz of the German Luftwaffe told public television.
“Air Defender” was conceived in 2018 in part in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine four years earlier, though Gerhartz insisted it was “targeted at no one.”
Two Airbus A400M of the German Air Force fly over Wunstorf Air Base in Wunstorf, Germany, Monday, June 12
An Airbus A400M of the German Air Force with the logo of the international air force maneuver ‘Air Defender 2023’ is parked at Wunstorf Air Base in Wunstorf, Germany
A United States Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft flies over Wunstorf Air Base in Wunstorf, Germany
He said the exercise would not send flights to, say, Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave bordering alliance member states Poland and Lithuania.
“We are a defensive alliance and that’s how this exercise is planned,” he said.
The first flights began in the late morning at Wunstorf, Jagel and Lechfeld air bases, a Luftwaffe spokesman confirmed to AFP.
Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered at Wunstorf in northern Germany on Saturday against the exercises, under the motto ‘Practice peace – not war’. Protesters called for a “diplomatic solution” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire.
Gutmann said the exercise would “demonstrate beyond any doubt the agility and speed of our Allied force” and was intended to send a message to Russia, among others.
“I would be quite surprised if a world leader did not take note of what this shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, what the strength of this alliance means, and that includes Mr. Putin,” she told reporters, referring to the Russian president.
“By synchronizing together, we multiply our strength,” she added.
Chief of Staff of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz addresses journalists during the Air Defender Exercise 2023 at the military airbase
Russia’s war against Ukraine has revived the Western military alliance that was formed nearly 75 years ago to take on the Soviet Union.
Finland and Sweden, long maintaining an official veneer of neutrality to avoid conflict with Moscow, both sought NATO membership after the February 2022 Russian invasion.
According to Article Five of NATO, an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.
The exercise includes training at the operational and tactical level, mainly in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia, with a total of about 2,000 sorties.