Russian Tu-22M “Backfire” long-range heavy bombers escorted by several Su-27 “Flanker” have been intercepted today.
A Pair of Tu-22M “Backfire” Long-Range Heavy Bombers being escorted by several Su-27 “Flanker” Multirole Fighters of the Russian Air Force, were Intercepted earlier today over the Baltic Sea.
Air Forces of several NATO Countries, including a number of Swedish JAS 39 Gripens, Finnish F-18s, and Danish F-35s intercepted the Russian aircrafts.
Lithuanian authorities said the seven incidents occurred on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday last week. They were as follows:
- December 11: three IL-20 Russian military aircraft were detected flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea from Kaliningrad. Their onboard transponders were switched off, they had no pre-filed flight plans, and the crews were not maintaining radio communication with regional air traffic control.
- December 12: NATO fighter aircraft escorted one IL-20 and one TU-214PU aircraft in international airspace. The IL-20 was flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia. Its onboard transponder was turned off, it had no pre-filed flight plan, but the crew did maintain communication. Meanwhile, the TU-214PU was flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad with no pre-filed flight plan, but the onboard transponder was kept on and the crew did maintain communication.
- December 12: NATO fighter jets were scrambled in response to an IL-18 travelling in international airspace from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia. It had no pre-filed flight plan, the onboard transponder was turned on, and the crew did maintain contact.
- December 13: NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept one IL-76 and two TU-214 aircraft that were heading for mainland Russian from Kaliningrad through international airspace. Only the IL-76 had a flight plan, while all aircraft kept their onboard transponders on and maintained radio communication.
- December 15: NATO fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an Antonov AN-72 aircraft. The aircraft was heading from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad in international airspace. It had no flight plan, the onboard transponder was switched off, though the crew did maintain radio communication.
