NATO fighters escorted Russian planes over Europe 290 times in 2021
Photo: Ints Kalnins / Reuters
In 2021, NATO fighters in Europe took off 370 times on alert. This is stated in the message of the alliance, reports “Interfax”.
“As a rule, it was about checking the aircraft that were approaching the Allied airspace without notification. About 80 percent of these missions, that is, 290 sorties, related to the response to flights of Russian military aircraft, ”- said in a statement from Brussels.
The alliance added that most of the escorts were carried out in the Baltic region. “The escort missions took place without incident: NATO pilots raised aircraft into the air to determine the type of aircraft approaching the airspace and escort them from a particular area,” the North Atlantic Alliance said.
On December 28, it became known that a Russian Il-114LL (flying laboratory) aircraft had taken off to spy on a Boeing P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft of the US Air Force (Air Force). An American aircraft began reconnaissance over the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea.
