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NATO Intercepts at Least 19 Russian Military Planes in 1 Day

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NATO intercepted at least 19 Russian aircraft flying far outside Russia's airspace today, worrying the organization's officials.

"These sizable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace," NATO said in a statement released this afternoon.

The Russian fighter jets and bombers were seen flying in three different regions. The intercepts came a week after widespread reports that a Russian submarine may have been spotted off the coast of Sweden.

The North Sea and Atlantic Ocean had the largest fleet of Russian aircraft activity, with eight planes detected by NATO radar flying in formation from Russian airspace toward the Norwegian Sea and into international airspace this afternoon.

NATO allies, which continually watch over partner airspace, saw six of the planes turn back towards northern Russia after Norwegian Air Force F-16s intercepted the planes. The remaining two Russian planes, both Tu-95 Bear H bombers, continued to fly above the Norwegian coastline, prompting NATO planes stationed in the United Kingdom to track them.

The NATO statement reported that those two Russian bombers were en route back to their homeland.

"Scrambles and intercepts are standard procedure when an unknown aircraft approaches NATO airspace," the NATO release said. "However, such flights pose a potential risk to civil aviation given that the Russian military often do not file flight plans, or use their on-board transponders."

Four other Russian aircraft -- two fighter jets and two bombers -- were spotted flying over the Black Sea, prompting Turkish Air Force jets to scramble to track them.

There were at least seven other Russian planes intercepted over the Baltic Sea today, as well, though NATO would not indicate exactly how many. Baltic Air Policing Mission planes were sent into the air and the Russian aircraft headed back to their own airspace.

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NATO Intercepts at Least 19 Russian Military Planes in 1 Day

NATO says Russian jets, bombers circle Europe in unusual incidents

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MOSCOW NATO said Wednesday that it had intercepted a large number of Russian aircraft flying close to European airspace in the past two days, in an unusual series of incidents that brought Russian bombers as far afield as Portugal.

The aircraft at least 19 in all offered reminders of Russian air power at a time of the worst relations between the West and Russia since the Cold War. Russian military aircraft have significantly increased their activity in Europe since the conflict in Ukraine began earlier this year, with NATO scrambling to intercept aircraft more than 100 times in 2014. But a NATO official said the scale of the latest incidents was the most provocative this year.

Over the Atlantic Ocean and the North, Black and Baltic seas, Russian bombers, fighter jets and tanker aircraft were detected flying in international airspace, NATO said. There were no incursions into national airspace, a violation of sovereignty that would have significantly amplified the seriousness of the four incidents, three of which took place on Wednesday.

Were raising it as an unusual level of activity, said Lt. Col. Jay Janzen, a spokesman for NATOs military command in Mons, Belgium. The flights weve seen in the last 24 hours, the size of those flights and some of the flight plans are definitely unusual.

U.S. officials regard the flights as a show of force by the Putin government. Its concerning because its moving in the wrong direction, said one U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the air activity publicly. Its not helping to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. Its not helping to improve relations between NATO and Russia. Its not helping anybody.

Smaller-scale incidents have also increased this year, approximately tripling from the same period in 2013, Janzen said.

In at least one of the four incidents, the aircraft had switched off their transponders and had not filed flight plans with civilian air traffic controllers. That means that civilian air traffic control cannot track them, potentially creating a risk for civilian planes.

That incident took place around 3:00 a.m. in Western Europe on Wednesday, when four Tu-95 long-range strategic nuclear bombers and four Il-78 tanker aircraft flew over the Norwegian Sea. Norwegian F-16 fighter jets scrambled to intercept them. Six of the planes returned to Russia, but two of the bombers skirted the Norwegian coast, flew past Britain sending Typhoon fighter jets to scramble in response and then finally looped west of Spain and Portugal, attracting Portuguese F-16s. Then the two bombers appeared to return to Russia, Janzen said.

The Tu-95 bombers are not commonly seen close to Europe, Janzen said. Nor are the MiG-31 fighter jets that were intercepted along with other aircraft above the Baltic Sea in two separate incidents Tuesday and Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents above the Baltic represented the same group of seven planes entering and departing a Russian military base at Kaliningrad.

There was no immediate reaction from the Russian government.

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NATO says Russian jets, bombers circle Europe in unusual incidents

New NATO head once hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy at anti-war protest. – Video

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New NATO head once hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy at anti-war protest.
The man at the helm of the biggest military alliance in the world was reportedly opposed to war and attended rallies. Jens Stoltenberg is even said to have thrown rocks at a U.S. Embassy at...

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New NATO head once hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy at anti-war protest. - Video

Russian hackers target Nato, military secrets

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Other Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria, were also targeted, as well as NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly poured scorn on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to FireEye, hacking NATO could give Moscow, "sensitive tactical and strategic intelligence concerning regional military capabilities and relationships".

The report comes amid heightened tension between the West and Russia, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March. The finger has been pointed at Russia for several widely reported cyberattacks, including a breach at JPMorgan that compromised the accounts of 76 million households and seven million small businesses.

Read MoreHow a Russian hacker snatched $100M from banks

In addition, cyber intelligence firm iSight Partners has recently reported that Russian hackers exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows to spy on computers used by Nato and other western governments.

Attacks likely successful

FireEye said that the sophistication of the attacks detailed in its report meant that they were likely to have proved successful in the majority of cases.

"I think you would be nave to assume they haven't been successful. For the large percentage of hacks they are successful, because we know existing security architecture is insufficient in stopping these things," Jason Steer, director of technology strategy at FireEye, told CNBC by phone.

Identifying where hackers are from can be difficult because of clever movement of data and deliberately misleading use of language in malware. Russia is particular hard to pin down due to its hackers covert movements in cyberspace, said Steer.

Read MoreHackers aim to pull off cyber-heist worth $1 billion: Report

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Russian hackers target Nato, military secrets

NATO secretary general: strong alliance needed to secure better ties with Russia

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Published October 28, 2014

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a policy speech entitled "A unique Alliance with a clear course" at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)(The Associated Press)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a policy speech entitled "A unique Alliance with a clear course" at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)(The Associated Press)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives a policy speech entitled "A unique Alliance with a clear course" at an event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)(The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS NATO's new secretary general says only a strong Western alliance can negotiate better ties with Russia.

Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that his experience as Norway's prime minister was that robust defense capabilities and a strong trans-Atlantic bond were fundamental to bring about constructive relations with Russia.

In his first policy speech since taking office Oct. 1, Stoltenberg said there was no contradiction between wanting to keep NATO strong and continuing to attempt to engage with the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"NATO is here to say. Russia is here to say. So we're going to have some kind of relationship," Stoltenberg said. The question, he said, is "what kind."

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NATO secretary general: strong alliance needed to secure better ties with Russia

New NATO chief plots course for 28-nation military pact

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STUTTGART, Germany As NATOs first secretary-general to hail from a country that shares a border with Russia, Jens Stoltenberg says todays tensions with Moscow conjure memories from a Cold War childhood when NATO was there to protect us.

I remember visiting that border when it was completely closed back in the days of the Soviet Union. When looking across was like staring into something dark and scary, Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister now heading up the 28-nation alliance, said on Tuesday.

Nowadays, there is a visa-free zone between Norway and Russia, where hundreds of thousands of people cross the border each year. But Russias moves around Ukraine during the past year have threatened such progress and brought about echoes from the past, which NATO must be prepared to counter, Stoltenberg said during a speech at the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.

NATOs new top official laid out his priorities during his first major policy speech since assuming leadership of the 28-nation alliance earlier this month. Stoltenberg took up his post from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, his predecessor as the military alliances secretary-general who had been criticized by some NATO allies for his sharp comments about Moscows policies in Ukraine.

Much of Stoltenbergs speech also focused on Russia.

NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia. And nobody wants a new Cold War, 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, he said. But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which our alliance and the security of Europe and North America rest. This is my firm conviction.

Going forward, Stoltenberg said his main goals will be pushing forward with a new action plan that aims to elevate NATOs overall state of readiness through the placement of equipment at strategic staging bases in eastern Europe, a new rapid-reaction force and a heightened presence of rotational forces on NATOs eastern frontier.

This is the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War, Stoltenberg said. We are making our forces more agile. And able to deploy quickly whenever threats emerge. From any direction.

The size and shape of NATOs new spearhead reaction force, expected to be around 4,000 troops, will be decided when defense ministers meet in February.

At the same time, Stoltenberg struck a more conciliatory and diplomatic tone than Rasmussen, emphasizing the need to find ways to work with Moscow.

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New NATO chief plots course for 28-nation military pact

NATO ends mission in Afghanistan's Helmand Province

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KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- NATO concluded its combat mission in Afghanistan's Helmand Province on Sunday, transferring responsibility of two bases and an airstrip to the Afghan military.

A ceremony was held at the Bastion-Leatherneck complex to mark the momentous occasion in the 13-year war and edging closer to NATO's full military withdrawal. American and British flags were lowered one final time.

"This is truly a historic day," said commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson.

"Years of continuous combat, countless hours of sun-baked patrols and numerous casualties -- this day marks the end of the [coalition] mission here in southwest."

"It is with pride that we announce the end of UK combat operations in Helmand... Our Armed Forces' tremendous sacrifice laid the foundations for a strong Afghan Security Force, set the security context that enabled the first democratic transition of power in the country's history, and stopped it being a launch pad for terrorist attacks in the UK," remarked British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon.

Afghan National Army Maj. Gen. Sayed Malouk, commander of the army's 215 Corps in central Helmand, expressed confidence in the ANA, noting "the ANA has already been conducting operations by themselves, in the battlefield, and no district has been taken over, no checkpoint has been taken over by the Taliban," adding, "We are ready."

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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NATO ends mission in Afghanistan's Helmand Province

U.S., NATO applaud Ukraine for holding successful parliamentary elections

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. and NATO congratulated Ukraine for holding successful parliamentary elections on Sunday.

According to a preliminary assessment released by the OSCE's International Election Observatory Mission, the elections "were transparent and assessed positively overall."

The OSCE, U.S., and NATO recognized that unrest in Ukraine's eastern region and the illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula by Russia had impacted the ability of all Ukrainians to participate in Sunday's election.

"Despite a challenging security environment in certain regions, millions of Ukrainians turned out across the country to cast their ballots in an orderly and peaceful manner," President Barack Obama remarked Monday.

Secretary of State John Kerry applauded Kiev for its voter outreach to embattled areas, notably in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.

"Their hard work to provide for alternate voting arrangements, including for internally displaced persons, was a particularly laudable effort to overcome actions by Russian authorities occupying Crimea and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine to prevent voters from exercising their democratic rights."

Obama included a message intended for Moscow in his congratulatory statement:

"I call on Russia to ensure that its proxies in eastern Ukraine allow voters in the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk subject to the Special Status Law to choose their representatives in legitimate local elections on December 7, in keeping with the agreement that Russia and separatist representatives signed in Minsk, Belarus, on September 5, 2014."

NATO Secretary Genera Jens Stoltenberg applauded Ukrainians for embracing "an ambitious reform agenda and a European path. I welcome their determination to further promote an inclusive political process based on democratic values and respect for human rights, minorities and the rule of law."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's bloc was the clear winner in Sunday's election, followed by Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk's People's Front. Both parties are pro-European and support further Ukranian integration with the European Union.

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U.S., NATO applaud Ukraine for holding successful parliamentary elections

NATO troops to march into Russia as peacekeepers?

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Sweden's recent obsessive search for a Russian submarine is an amusing story indeed. The Swedes could not see where the signal was coming from: it could be a Russian, a Dutch submarine or even divers. The performance has its director, though - NATO. Pravda.Ru interviewed the head of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems Konstantin Sivkov about the situation in the Stockholm Archipelago.

"As long as they have been looking for a strange object so persistently, it appears that there are serious reasons for that. Could it be our submarine indeed?"

"Technically, it could be anything. Technically, a Russian submarine may find itself both in the fjords of Sweden, and elsewhere in the world ocean. But practically, this is impossible. It goes about "Triton" submarine. This is a midget submarine designed for solving tasks in the vicinity of bases. To be used in remote areas, it should be transported on board a surface ship, as a rule, because its range and the time of autonomous work is not large.

"The duration of a typical anti-submarine search operation that NATO forces conduct makes up from three to five days. If they have not found anything there during this time, they are not likely to find anything then. The area of the possible location of the alleged submarine was small. Some reports said that it was discovered visually, other sources said that it was detected by radio-electronic equipment. The primary location of the submarine was indicated with high accuracy. If the sub was there indeed, it would be found within hours after the detection of an electronic signal.

Sweden has anti-submarine aircraft equipped with powerful sonar equipment and radio-acoustic buoys that can detect such a submarine. Therefore, if it was not found then it means that it was not there. Compare it with the recent detection of a state-of-the-art American submarine, Virginia tyoe, that was found in Russian territorial waters near Novaya Zemlya. Everything was very quickly established, proven and appropriate measures were taken.

All the talk about the Russian submarine in Swedish waters is based on NATO's intention to feverishly sculpt an enemy from Russia, to justify its existence. The attempt to create an enemy in the form of international terrorism has led to nothing.

No one believes that. Therefore, one should model a more real and more visible image of an enemy. The myth of existence of a Russian submarine in the area was intended to create an idea of Russia's highly aggressive behavior. This will allow the military to require additional funding, whereas political hawks will seek Sweden's entry into NATO."

"Are reconnaissance missions of submarines to territorial waters of other countries a common occurrence?"

"Of course, they are. The Americans do that regularly. Soviet and Russian submarines do that too, certainly. Yet, why would Russian submarines get into the territorial waters of neutral Sweden? There are more dangerous opponents."

"The Voice of Sweden said one could install special sensors in those fjords to record information and then use the fjords to shelter Russian submarines in an event of emergency. Could it be possible?"

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NATO troops to march into Russia as peacekeepers?

NATO Says Russian Army Still in Ukraine: Putin denies sending troops into Ukraine – Video

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NATO Says Russian Army Still in Ukraine: Putin denies sending troops into Ukraine
Russia still has troops in eastern Ukraine and retains a potent military posture with thousands of soldiers still camped along the border NATO has said. Only last week Presdent Putin claimed...

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NATO Says Russian Army Still in Ukraine: Putin denies sending troops into Ukraine - Video

NATO coalition hands over two major bases to Afghan military

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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan The NATO coalition ended its formal mission in restive and dangerous Helmand province Sunday, handing over two major bases and an airstrip to the Afghan military as U.S. Marines and British forces prepare to withdraw.

The transfer of Camp Leatherneck and Camp Bastion, the hub for coalition forces in southwestern Afghanistan, is the most dramatic signal to date that the 13-year-old war is drawing to a close.

For now, British forces and U.S. Marines will continue to secure the perimeter of the adjoining bases while they await orders to withdraw completely. When they do, it will essentially mark the conclusion of the war in Afghanistan for the Marines and British forces, officials in both countries said.

This is truly a historic day, said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command. Years of continuous combat, countless hours of sunbaked patrols and numerous casualties this day marks the end of the [coalition] mission here in southwest.

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon acknowledged that mistakes were made in Afghanistan by politicians and generals, comments that will add to the long-running debate in Britain about whether the mission was worth it.

Mistakes were made militarily, mistakes were made by the politicians at the time, and this goes back 10, 13 years, some time now, Fallon told the BBC on Sunday. But lets dont ignore what has been achieved.

Fallon said the majority of British troops would be home by Christmas.

Although about 34,000 coalition troops remain in Afghanistan, President Obama has pledged to cut that number in half by January. Under a security agreement that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently signed with the United States, Obama plans to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan next year.

About 3,000 troops from other nations are also expected to remain in Afghanistan to help train and support the Afghan army and police force.

Sundays ceremony means Afghan security forces now have full access to a sprawling military complex that includes more than 6,500 acres of desert land.

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NATO coalition hands over two major bases to Afghan military

NATO promises Afghans air support after 2014 as it shuts key base

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KABUL, Afghanistan The international military coalition said Sunday it would continue to provide air support to Afghan forces after the scheduled end of combat operations in December, even as it shuttered a major regional command in the violent Helmand province.

Maj. Paul Greenberg, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said in a statement to Stars and Stripes that cooperation with the Afghan police and military after the transition to Afghan control "will include continued aviation support" by the coalition.

The framework for the continued air support was laid out in a recent agreement between Afghanistan and NATO, said Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.

"According to our new agreement, the NATO air forces will support Afghan security forces until the Afghan air force is sufficient," he told Stripes in a phone interview. He said the current goal is to have the Afghan air force fully operational by 2016.

That news came as the United Kingdom essentially ended its combat mission in Afghanistan by handing over control of Camp Bastion to the Afghan forces in Helmand. Neighboring Camp Leatherneck was also formally transferred, signaling that the mission for U.S. Marines in the province is also nearing its end.

The planned American drawdown announced by President Barack Obama calls for about 9,800 U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan next year for a "noncombat train, advise, and assist mission." Other NATO partners have pledged to send about 2,000 troops. It is not clear whether coalition air forces will be counted in those numbers.

Continuing violence in the country has led the Afghan government to retain a massive national security force and to seek additional support from NATO.

There has been much speculation about the exact nature of future international military backing. Now ISAF says combat aviation forces may be part of that support.

While he said the past two years have seen "exponential growth of the Afghan Air Force and the ability of the ANSF to operate independently," Greenberg said military support will continue.

"Upon the request of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), the International Security Assistance Force has provided robust aviation support to the ANSF throughout Helmand Province in the form of close air support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft," he said in the statement to Stripes. "This support has been provided consistently over the past two years. Upon request of the ANSF, NATO will continue to provide aviation support to Afghan forces during Resolute Support."

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NATO promises Afghans air support after 2014 as it shuts key base


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