NATO fighter jets stationed around the Baltic and Black Seas have scrambled multiple times over the past four days to track and intercept Russian aircraft near Alliance airspace.
- Russian military aircraft are often failing to transmit a transponder code indicating their position and altitude, have not filed a flight plan, and do not communicate with air traffic controllers, posing a potential risk to civilian airliners.
- NATO radars tracked multiple unidentified aircraft over the Baltic and Black Seas since April 26. In response, NATO's Combined Air Operations Centres at Uedem, Germany, and Torrejón, Spain launched Allied fighter aircraft in to intercept and identify the approaching aircraft.
- Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) fighters from Poland, Denmark, France, and Spain have been airborne at different times in the Baltic Sea Region since Tuesday to safeguard Allied airspace.
- In the Black Sea region, QRA aircraft from Romania and the UK scrambled to investigate unknown tracks approaching Allied airspace.
- Russian aircraft did not enter allied air space and the NATO flights have been otherwise safe and routine. While it is not possible to prove, the repeated testing may be an effort to gauge response times and readiness of NATO fighter jets.
- Air policing is a key way NATO protects members and NATO will remain prepared for any suspicious aircraft approaching its air space.