NATO Fighter Jets Rush to Intercept Russian Planes Flying Over Baltic Sea
NATO reported that the Russian aircraft violated ‘international norms’ while flying in international airspace.
Fighter jets from Italy and Norway, operating under NATO authority, were deployed on Tuesday in response to Russian aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea and Norwegian coast.
The NATO Allied Air Command stated that the deployment was necessary due to Russian aircraft not following international norms, but specific details about the aircraft and their actions were not provided.
Recent months have seen several instances of Russian aircraft being detected in strategically significant areas like the Baltic Sea region. In most cases, these aircraft were intercepted by planes from other nations.
The German Air Force scrambled Eurofighters to warn and escort the Russian aircraft, ensuring that Latvian airspace was not breached during the incident.
In a different incident, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced that its aircraft intercepted a Russian military plane near the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on September 23.
Although specific details were not provided about the incident and the conduct of the aircraft, Guillot criticized the pilot’s actions as uncharacteristic of a professional air force.
NORAD clarified that the Russian and Chinese aircraft did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace during the incident, and their activities in the Alaska ADIZ were not considered threatening.
NORAD reiterated its preparedness to utilize “various response options” to safeguard North America.
“NORAD utilizes a comprehensive defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars, and fighter aircraft with seamless interoperability to detect and track aircraft and take appropriate actions,” the statement affirmed.
The Alaska ADIZ is outside of U.S. airspace but requires all foreign aircraft to be identifiable for national security purposes, starting where sovereign airspace ends.
Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.