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NATO, Swedish fighters scrambled to intercept Russian intelligence-gathering plane

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Jets scrambled: an F-16 fighter jet takes off from the military airbase in Europe. Photo: AFP

Brussels: NATO and Swedish fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian intelligence-gathering plane that briefly entered Estonian airspace on Tuesday, the alliance said on Wednesday.

The Estonian Foreign Ministry called the Russian ambassador to the ministry and gave him a protest note over the incursion, the Estonian defence forces said.

Fighters from Denmark as well as Portuguese F-16s from NATO's air policing mission in the Baltics took off after radar detected an unidentified aircraft flying close to NATO airspace in the Baltic Sea, NATO said.

The plane was identified as a Russian IL-20 intelligence-gathering aircraft that had taken off from Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, heading towards Denmark.

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The Russian aircraft was first intercepted by Danish F-16s and later, as it headed further north, by fighters from Sweden, which is not a NATO member.

The Russian aircraft turned south again, entering Estonian airspace for less than one minute, a NATO statement said.

Portuguese F-16s, which had been scrambled from their base in Lithuania, escorted the Russian plane away from NATO airspace.

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NATO, Swedish fighters scrambled to intercept Russian intelligence-gathering plane

Opinion: NATO should aid in Swedish search

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: James Stavridis is dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and former supreme allied commander at NATO. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author

(CNN) -- Recent developments off the coast of Sweden raise many questions, and we do not as yet have answers.

Last week, Swedish media reported that the country's military was searching for an underwater vessel, possibly a Russian submarine, after an emergency radio transmission allegedly made in Russian (although Russia has denied it has any vessels in Swedish waters).

James Stavridis

Now, as the Swedish Navy continues to search for the unidentified undersea vessel that may have penetrated the country's territorial waters, it's worth keeping in mind some key facts to help place the issue in perspective.

For a start, anti-submarine warfare is complex and very difficult to execute properly. Especially in the close confines of territorial waters, the advantages tend to accrue to the submarine. The rocky floor of an inland sea like the Baltic can mask acoustic signatures that give watching ships, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft the ability to track and identify a subsurface contact.

Second, this is happening against the backdrop of the Swedish Navy and Air Force having suffered significant budget cuts over the past decades. As a general proposition, the Swedes have a capable and professional force. But since the end of the Cold War, they have not invested heavily in anti-submarine warfare capability.

They are not alone in this regard -- many of the other European nations have likewise cut back in this area given a sense that anti-submarine warfare was something they would have needed against the USSR during the Cold War but less so during pre-Ukrainian crisis days with Russia.

And although Sweden is not a NATO member, meaning this operation is a national effort, it is a very strong partner to NATO and has been involved deeply in positive ways in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Libya and other operations. Yet the fact remains that there is no treaty obligation on the part of NATO to be involved. If the Swedes ask for help, it is likely that NATO would respond, but to date they have not done so.

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Opinion: NATO should aid in Swedish search

Russia spy plane intercepted in NATO airspace

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October 23, 2014, 3:39 am

Brussels (AFP) - NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian spy plane over the Baltic Sea after it breached Estonian airspace, the alliance said Wednesday in the latest of such incidents amid tensions with Moscow over Ukraine.

The Ilyushin IL-20 "intelligence collection aircraft", which took off from the Russian Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad on Tuesday, was first intercepted by Danish F-16 jets when it approached Denmark, NATO said in a statement.

It then flew north towards non-NATO member Sweden which also sent jets to intercept the plane.

Nearly four hours later the plane flew towards NATO member Estonia and was detected in Estonian airspace "for a period of less than one minute, which represented an incursion of about 600 metres (yards) into NATO airspace," it said.

Portuguese F-16s spotted the Russian propeller plane and escorted it out of NATO airspace, the alliance said.

The Ukraine crisis has produced the worst east-west tension since the end of the Cold War.

NATO has stepped up its Baltic air patrols due to what it says is a surge in intercepts of Russian warplanes near Polish and Baltic airspace since Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March.

The Swedish Navy meanwhile has been searching for a suspected Russian submarine off the coast of Stockholm for nearly a week, although it said Wednesday it was pulling back some of its ships.

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Russia spy plane intercepted in NATO airspace

NATO says Russian military aircraft intercepted over Baltic Sea

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October 22, 2014 - 10:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - NATO scrambled fighter jets twice in two days to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it said Tuesday amid reports that Russian military activity in the region is increasing, the Associated Press reports.

Lt. Col. Robert Gericke said the Russian aircraft were flying in international airspace and had not violated the territory of alliance members.

Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets were scrambled from the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft, which they shadowed for some 15 minutes, NATO said.

"Once identification was successful, the intercept mission was completed and the two Hornets returned to their base," a NATO statement said.

Earlier, the Latvian military tweeted that NATO F-16 jets were dispatched on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. Gericke confirmed that NATO jets had also intercepted a Russian aircraft that day, but could not immediately provide more details.

NATO, which has 16 fighter jets in the region monitoring Baltic airspace, said it regularly launches jets to identify "unknown or potentially hostile aircraft" in the proximity of national airspace.

There were two similar incidents in the region on Oct 7 and Sept 11, but on neither occasion did the Russian aircraft constitute a threat to NATO forces, the alliance said.

In the past five days, the Swedish Navy has been combing the Stockholm archipelago for signs of a foreign submarine that officials suspect entered its territorial waters illegally. It hasn't officially linked Russia to the suspected intrusion.

The Finnish military says that Russian military aircraft have violated the small Nordic country's airspace five times this year, and the Environment Institute said Russian military ships had twice intercepted one of its research vessels in international waters.

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NATO says Russian military aircraft intercepted over Baltic Sea

Russian Military Activity Increasing? NATO Intercepts Surveillance Aircrafts Over Baltic Sea

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NATO scrambled fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft in the proximity of allied airspace over the Baltic Sea on two separate occasions this week, the organization confirmed Tuesday. The incidents occurred amid concern that the Russian military has increased activity in the region in recent days.

Two Canadian F-18 Hornet fighters intercepted a Russian surveillance plane on Monday, the Associated Press reports. The NATO aircraft followed the surveillance plane for about 15 minutes and determined that it didn't constitute a threat to allied forces.Once identification was successful, the intercept mission was completed and the two Hornets returned to their base [in Lithuania], NATO said in a statement. The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace throughout the encounter and never crossed into sovereign territory, Lt. Col. Robert Gericke said.

In a separate incident, the Latvian military said that NATO fighter jets were deployed on Tuesday to intercept a Russian surveillance aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea. Gericke confirmed the incident, but additional details on the encounter weren't immediately available.NATO said Tuesday that it regularly scrambles fighter jets to assess potential threats to the airspace of member nations. The alliance maintains a force of 16 fighter jets to defend the Baltic region.

The interception of the Russian surveillance plane occurred just days after Sweden released a photo of what was believed to be a foreign submarine operating less than 30 miles from the countrys capital in Stockholm, Reuters reported. Three separate sightings confirmed the presence of a submerged vessel.

The Swedish military began its hunt for the vessel after it intercepted a radio transmission in Russian on an emergency frequency, sources told local newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. However, the Russian Defense Ministry has denied involvement in the incident.

Russian Navy ships and submarines are fulfilling their duties in the world ocean waters in accordance with the plan, a defense ministry official said, according to Interfax news agency. There are no extraordinary, let alone emergency, situations involving Russian warships.

Coupled with its actions in Ukraine, Russias increased military activity over the Baltic Sea has led to increased tensions between Moscow and NATO. Finnish military officials claim that Russia has violated Finlands airspace five times in 2014, while NATO has intercepted Russian aircraft on at least two other occasions since September.

Russia is modernizing its military equipment and testing it, but there are also more military exercises, former Swedish defense minister Karin Enstrm told Newsweek. Its a sign of Russia increasing its military capabilities, both when it comes to equipment and fighting abilities. These developments in combination with the war in Ukraine are very serious and alarming. Ukraine is impacting on our part of the world very negatively.

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Russian Military Activity Increasing? NATO Intercepts Surveillance Aircrafts Over Baltic Sea

Russian spy plane encroaches on NATO-patrolled airspace

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In this image made available by 331/332 Squadron of the Norwegian Air Force a Russian TU-95 Bear H flies over International waters off the coast of Norway on Friday Aug. 17, 2007. Eleven Russian military planes exercised West of Norway ... more >

A Russian spy plane briefly entered NATO airspace Tuesday, the first reported incident of a Russian military aircraft encroaching on territory patrolled by the alliance since the Ukraine crisis began.

The spy plane entered Estonian airspace near the island of Saaremaa for a period of less than one minute after NATO fighter jets steered the plane away from Denmark, NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Jay Janzen said.

NATO officials identified the spy plane as a Russian Ilyushin-20, which was designed to gather intelligence, Lt. Col. Janzen said. Officials tracked the spy plane from its launching point from the Russian seaport city of Kaliningrad and watched it kind of doing a circuit around the Baltic before the aircraft headed into Estonia airspace, he said.

NATO increased its policing efforts in the Baltic Sea region this year in response to concern among NATO allies like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania when Russia annexed a peninsula in southern Ukraine.

Lt. Col. Janzen said the incursion, while brief and relatively minor, was the first since a conflict over Russias aggressive behavior in Ukraine strained relations between Moscow and the alliance.

Since the Ukraine crisis started, there havent been any incursions into the areas that NATO patrols as part of its air policing mission. This was the first one, he said.

Estonias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mari-Liis Valter said Wednesday that Estonia considers the violation serious and demands an explanation for why the spy plane entered its airspace, according to the Associated Press.

Estonias ministry of foreign affairs summoned the Russian ambassador Wednesday and presented him with a diplomatic note of protest, according to Embassy of Estonia spokeswoman Maria Belovas.

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Russian spy plane encroaches on NATO-patrolled airspace

NATO Asking U.S. For More Warships

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Warships of NATO Maritime Group 2 visit Varna, Bulgaria, in September. (photo: NATO)

NATO is looking for more U.S. warships to counter the Russian "threat," the alliance's naval chief has said.

In a meeting with Pentagon reporters,Royal Navy Vice Adm. Peter Hudson said that NATO's four standing maritime groups have operated at only half strength for the last several years, reported Navy Times.

Twenty five years ago, he said, "We used to do big, complex NATO exercises in all environments, but the world has changed. We havent been doing as many of those in the last 10, 15 years. But I think Ukraine has told us we need to up our game and I think thats the plan in the near future.

Hudson was apparently at the Pentagon to discuss with U.S. Navy officials how to beef up NATO's naval forces.Six or seven destroyers isnt going to defeat a complex enemy, he said. But it will sustain a theater, ... it will put all the connectivity into a region in place so that the follow-on forces can deliver.

One wonders what sort of scenario would entail a NATO "defeat" of Russia.The U.S. has already stepped up its rotation of ships into the Black Sea and has promised to do more. Vice Adm. Hudson also said last month that NATO would increase its presence in the Baltic Sea, as well. (That plan has no doubt been given new currency as a result of Sweden's claims that a Russian submarine has been snooping around its waters.)

And a "large fleet of naval vessels" is currently in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean conducting Operation "Noble Justification,"the name of which speaks to the vigor with which NATO has embraced its new role in the months since the crisis with Ukraine began.After a couple of decades of near irrelevance, both NATO and Russia have found new meaning in reviving their dormant mutual antagonism.

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NATO Asking U.S. For More Warships


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