On January 24 – 30 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states were scrambled twice to intercept military aircraft of the Russian Federation in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
On January 27 the NATO Baltic Air Policing detachment fighter aircraft intercepted civilian aircraft A346 flying from Bournemouth (UK) to Fuzhou (China). The aircraft had a pre-filed flight plan, however, the crew was not maintaining radio communication with Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn air traffic control centers. The sortie was cancelled before the fighter jets approached the civilian aircraft as the pilot error was corrected – the pilot established radio communication.
On January 29 NATO air policing fighter aircraft intercepted four Su-30SM fighter aircraft flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad. Three of the fighter aircraft had no flight plans, did not maintain radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre, their onboard transponder were off. The fourth aircraft had its onboard transponder on but no flight plan and radio communication was not maintained either.
Related image (MoD archive, A.Pliadis)
