NATO fighters conducting an air policing mission in the Baltic states scrambled four times last week to identify and escort Russian aircraft that violated flight rules, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense reported on Monday.
On February 16, fighters were dispatched to identify the Russian reconnaissance aircraft Il-20M and the fighter Su-30.
The latter flew with their radar transponders turned off, without flight plans, but maintained radio communication with the Regional Flight Control Center (RFCC).
Meanwhile, on February 19, a flight was made to identify two Su-24M attack aircraft; NATO air policing fighters were also scrambled on February 21 to recognize the same two aircraft.
In both cases, they flew with their radar transponders turned off, without flight plans, and did not maintain radio communication.
On February 20, fighters were dispatched to identify the Russian reconnaissance aircraft Il-20, which maintained radio communication with the RFCC but flew with its radar transponder turned off and without a flight plan.
The NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states is conducted from Lithuania and Estonia.
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