NATO Jets Scrambled To Intercept Two Russian Su-30 Aircraft

Sweden and Germany scrambled their fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft on Saturday, Berlin's air force has said.

The German Airforce on Saturday revealed the latest aerial encounter between the allied forces and the Russian military, writing in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that two German Eurofighter planes detected two of Russia's Su-30 fighter jets flying over international waters.

"The pilots of the Su behaved uncooperatively but not aggressively," the German Airforce wrote on X.

The post was accompanied by what appeared to be picture of the two Russian jets. It is unclear if they were carrying any weapons. The jets were flying over the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is almost completely surrounded by NATO member states, dubbed "NATO Lake," with the exception of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and the Gulf of Finland—which borders the Russian city of St. Petersburg to the east.

Russia's military aircraft have often transited between Kaliningrad and mainland Russia and flown close to airspace of neighboring NATO member states, making air interceptions of Russian aircraft in the region by NATO fighter jets common.

According to NATO, when radars detect suspicious aircraft within the European airspace, it will launch fighter jets as "Quick Reaction Alert Interceptor" to intercept and visually identify the aircraft, and escort the target to land or depart NATO airspace if necessary.

Last month, Finland and Sweden, the newest members of NATO, intercepted two Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

NATO said the Su-30s did not file a flight plan in advance and had no radio contact with air traffic control. They were also allegedly violating international aviation rules by not using transponder signals.

According to NATO, scrambles to intercept Russian aircraft approaching allied airspace over the Baltic Sea region went up 20 percent to 25 percent in the first quarter of 2024, Reuters reported.

The NATO source added that most intercepts now involve surveillance aircraft or sometimes transport planes, as opposed to fighter jets.

It is not clear why Russia has changed its behavior, but it comes as the country's war with Ukraine rages on, with fighting intensifying.

This week, Poland and other NATO countries stepped up air-defense operations to reinforce Polish airspace, which borders both Ukraine and Kaliningrad.

Warsaw's air-defense systems have had to deal with conflict on two borders since the escalation of the invasion of Ukraine. In May this year, it was reported that Polish defense officials were considering shooting down Russian missiles after Moscow continued to fire into western Ukraine, which often enters Polish airspace.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Western military alliance increased its presence along its eastern flank, sending more fighter jets and establishing ground-based air defenses.

At the beginning of the year, NATO initiated its largest exercise since the Cold War, involving approximately 90,000 troops.

Last year, NATO said allied fighter jets took off over 300 times to intercept Russian military aircraft, with most of the incidents occurring over the Baltic.

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