British fighters Typhoon from Poland intervened on Russian aircraft above the Baltic Sea, demonstrating NATO readiness to defend their airspace.
Britain announced on Sunday that her fighters took off this week to Russian aircraft, which were moving over the Baltic Sea near the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) airspace. The incidents took place on Tuesday and Thursday, TASR reports according to the British Defense Ministry and Reuters.
Two Typhoon fighters sent Malbork on Tuesday in Poland to the Russian exploratory aircraft Iliushin IL-20M, two days later two more intervened with an unknown plane that left the air space of the Kaliningrad region.
According to the ministry, this is the first such deployment of the British Air Force in their contribution to the strengthened protection of the airspace on the Eastern Wing of NATO. The British contingent arrived in Eastern Poland a few weeks ago and works there with his colleagues from Sweden.
State Secretary of the British Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Luke Pollard said that at the time of the growing Russian aggression and security threats, Britain was involved in assuring its allies, discouraging opponents and protecting its national security. “This mission shows our ability to operate alongside with the latest NATO member Sweden and defend the airspace of the Alliance, anywhere and whenever necessary,” he added. Russia did not respond immediately to the report.
