For the second time this week a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons were scrambled from Amari Air Base in Estonia to intercept Russian aircraft transiting through the Gulf of Finland off the Estonian coast.
As part of the ongoing NATOs Baltic Air Policing mission two Eurofighter Typhoons were scrambled to intercept, identify and then escort Russian aircraft in two separate instances on March 17. The two Eurofighter Typhoons, drawn from the Royal Air Force’s IX(B) Squadron and the German Luftwaffe’s Tactical Air Wing 71 (TLG71) ‘Richtofen’ respectively, were scrambled to firstly intercept a Russian Navy Tu-134AK ‘Crusty’ RF-66003. This aircraft was already being escorted by a pair of Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter aircraft presumable from or to Kaliningrad from the Russian mainland. They were then tasked to intercept a Russian Air Force Antonov An-12BK ‘Cub’ RF-93586/14 RED.
Wing Commander Richard Leask, the Officer Commanding IX(B) Sqn operating as part of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing said: “We were scrambled to intercept an aircraft that was approaching Estonian airspace. We quickly identified the Russian aircraft and then monitored it as it flew close to NATO airspace.” He also added “The NATO Air Policing mission is carried out to ensure any aircraft of interest are intercepted to ensure we know who they are and maintain flight safety for all airspace users. This is part of being a fighter pilot and is what we and our German colleagues have trained together to be able to do.”
The RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing commander, Scott Maccoll said: “Now the two Air Force detachments here in Estonia have fully integrated, this interception demonstrated that the two detachments are now working extremely well together as one team.” The RAF will officially take over as the lead nation of the Baltic Air Policing on April 1 and the joint scrambles will continue until the end of the month.
