The NATO alliance scrambled its fighter jets more than 400 times to intercept approaching aircraft in 2020, mostly in response to Russian military planes, the defense organization said Monday.
The missions represent a continuing uptick in Russian flights near the NATO perimeter.
“In recent years, we have seen an increased level of Russian military air activity close to the alliance’s borders,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement.
In 2020, NATO air forces in Europe responded to 350 flights from Russian military planes — a “moderate” increase from 300 such intercepts in 2019, the organization said.
“Russian military aircraft often do not transmit a transponder code indicating their position and altitude, do not file a flight plan, or do not communicate with air traffic controllers, posing a potential risk to civilian airliners,” the group wrote in a statement.
Norway reported earlier this year that its own NATO contingent launched 41 intercepts as of mid-September.
this is so old school 1950 cold war shit, why doesn`t the U.S. just wait until soviet planes enter our air space and then just shot them down with ground to air missiles? call their bluff let them enter our airspace and kill them with surface to air missiles.
My F-15 will take them down !!!