News
| Date | Title | |
| 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. |
| 05 Jul. 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. | |
| 03 Jul. 2021 |  | NATO air and maritime forces conducted air defence drills off Romania’s coast on Friday (2 July 2021), ensuring that allied forces remain ready to operate together in the strategic Black Sea region. The one-day manoeuvres saw Greek and Turkish fighter jets prod the air defences of Standing NATO Maritime Group Two, which is currently in the region. A NATO Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft, Romanian fighter jets and a Turkish patrol aircraft supported the drill. Friday’s exercise ran in parallel to Sea Breeze 2021 – a major annual naval exercise in the Black Sea - which involves 5,000 troops from NATO and other countries and around 30 ships and 40 aircraft. |
| 01 Jul. 2021 |  | NATO on Thursday (1 July 2021) marked the 60th anniversary of the Alliance’s mission to keep European skies safe and secure. ''For six decades, Air Policing has been an important way for NATO to keep our people safe'', NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. ''This is a clear example of Alliance solidarity in action, demonstrating that NATO has the capabilities and the resolve to protect all Allies,'' he said. |
| 21 Apr. 2021 |  | NATO fighter jets from bases in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland on Tuesday (20 April 2021) scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea. |
| 30 Mar. 2021 |  |
NATO jets intercept Russian warplanes during unusual level of air activity NATO fighter jets scrambled 10 times on Monday, March 29, 2021, to shadow Russian bombers and fighters during an unusual peak of flights over the North Atlantic, North Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea. In all, NATO aircraft intercepted six different groups of Russian military aircraft near Alliance airspace in less than six hours. |
| 28 Jan. 2021 |  | United States Navy destroyer USS Porter entered the Black Sea on Thursday (28 January 2021) to conduct routine maritime security operations and to train with Allies and partners in the region. Porter is the third US navy ship to enter the Black Sea in recent days, joining guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and replenishment oiler USNS Laramie. |
| 26 Jan. 2021 |  | Six Spanish Air Force Eurofighters arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on Monday (25 January 2021) to take up two months of NATO air policing duty, patrolling and training alongside the Romanian Air Force. NATO’s enhanced air policing mission in Romania was established in 2014, demonstrating Allies’ commitment to deter any possible aggression. This is the first time that Spain has participated. |
| 28 Dec. 2020 |  | NATO air forces across Europe scrambled more than 400 times in 2020 to intercept unknown aircraft approaching Alliance airspace. Almost 90 percent of these missions - around 350 - were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft. This is a moderate increase from 2019. Russian military aircraft often do not transmit a transponder code indicating their position and altitude, do not file a flight plan, or do not communicate with air traffic controllers, posing a potential risk to civilian airliners. |