News
| Date | Title | |
| 29 Apr. 2022 |  |
NATO jets scramble in response to Russian aircraft over Baltic and Black Seas Allied fighter jets on NATO duty scrambled multiple times over the past four days to track and intercept Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. All interactions occurred in a safe and routine manner. |
| 25 Apr. 2022 |  |
Italy supports NATO Air Policing with F-35A deployment to Iceland A detachment of modern F-35A fighter jets and personnel from the Italian Air Force is set to deploy to Iceland for two months to support NATO's Air Policing efforts in the High North. |
| 14 Apr. 2022 |  |
Allies practise air interoperability with Finland and Sweden NATO Allies and partners Finland and Sweden, have had a week of intensive cooperation in the skies over Estonia in the just-concluded exercise Ramstein Alloy. The regular NATO exercise focused on real-world scenarios faced by NATO’s Air Policing personnel deployed in the Baltic region. |
| 12 Apr. 2022 |  |
Netherlands and UK take up NATO air policing over Bulgaria and Romania The Netherlands and United Kingdom took over NATO’s enhanced air policing over Black Sea Allies Bulgaria and Romania this week. UK Typhoons are replacing Italian Eurofighters in Romania, and US F-16 fighter jets continue to reinforce the Alliance's force posture in the country. In Bulgaria, Dutch F-35 fighter jets are taking over from Spanish Eurofighters. In recent years, a number of Allies have helped Bulgaria and Romania to ensure the safety of their airspace. In addition to keeping Allies safe, participation in this joint mission enhances the capability and interoperability of Allied air forces. |
| 18 Jan. 2022 |  |
Denmark renews its contribution to NATO's Air Policing in the Baltic region Denmark is preparing four of its F-16 fighter jets for a new deployment to Lithuania in support of NATO's enhanced Air Policing mission in the Baltic States. |
| 28 Dec. 2021 |  |
NATO jets scrambled hundreds of times in 2021 to guard Allied airspace NATO fighter jets scrambled around 370 times across Europe in 2021, mostly to check aircraft flying unannounced near Allied air space. Around 80 percent of the missions, 290 in total, were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft. |
| 10 Dec. 2021 |  | A ceremony to mark the inclusion of the Republic of North Macedonia in the NATO Air Policing system was held on 9 December 2021 at Skopje airport. Two Hellenic Air Force F-16 jets executed a simulated intercept of a Republic of North Macedonia government Learjet. The Minister of Defence of the Republic North Macedonia, Mrs. Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, NATO's representative, Lieutenant General De La Cruz, Commander of NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejón, Spain, and the Chief of the Hellenic Tactical Air Force Lt. General Themistokles Bourolias, watched as the fighters escorted the Learjet to Skopje Airport and monitored it during a safe landing. |
| 10 Dec. 2021 | Across Europe, NATO fighter jets are on duty around the clock, ready to scramble in case of suspicious or unannounced flights near the airspace of our Allies. NATO calls this activity Air Policing, which has been an essential part of NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence for 60 years (since 1961). Explore this page to learn more about NATO’s five special air policing arrangements to ensure the integrity of NATO’s airspace and protect our almost one billion citizens. | |
| 30 Jul. 2021 |  |
NATO scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft over Baltic Sea NATO scrambled Spanish and Italian fighter aircraft on Thursday (29 July 2021) to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea. The NATO fighters, assigned to NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, identified two Il-22PP Mute electronic warfare aircraft and an Su-24 Fencer fighter aircraft. An IL-76 Candid transport aircraft was also tracked and escorted. The Russian aircraft did not have flight plans nor transmit transponder codes, and thus posed a potential risk to civilian flights. |
| 07 Jul. 2021 |  | Fighter jets from the United States and Turkey are taking up NATO Air Policing duties this week, guarding the skies over Iceland and over the Baltic region. |