NATO marks 20% to A 25% increase in the number of fighter sorties to intercept Russian aircraft approaching allied airspace over the Baltic Sea region in the first quarter of 2024. This was announced by a NATO source on Thursday, and the likely reason for the increased Russian activity is the increase in the number of NATO exercises, reports Reuters.
The source declined to provide specific data on the number of Russian military flights detected near NATO territory. Last year, NATO reported that allied fighter jets flew more than 300 times to intercept Russian warplanes, with most of the incidents occurring over the Baltics.
Since then, NATO has noted a change in the type of Russian aircraft seen near allied territory. In the past, Russian fighter jets and strategic bombers were often intercepted, while now the majority of intercepts involve reconnaissance aircraft or sometimes transport aircraft.
It is not clear why Russia has changed its behavior, but it is believed that Moscow needs its bombers and fighter jets in Ukraine, where fighting is intensifying.
NATO claims Russian warplanes have a history of violations by not transmitting transponder codes, failing to file flight plans and failing to communicate with air traffic controllers.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Western military alliance increased its presence on the eastern flank, sending more fighter jets and building ground-based air defenses. NATO also deployed additional fighter jets to Romania after repeated Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure near the alliance's southeastern border.
At the beginning of the year, NATO launched its largest exercise since the Cold War, involving some 90,000 troops. These exercises are intended to rehearse the implementation of NATO's regional plans, the first such plans developed in decades, which outline how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.