Two Typhoon jets, one from the Royal Air Force and one from the German Air Force, were scrambled from Ämari Air Base in Estonia for a routine NATO Air Policing mission on March 17th.

The mission involved intercepting a Russian military Tu-134 passenger jet, along with two Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighter jets and an AN-12 Cub military transport aircraft, as they were flying close to Estonian airspace.

This marks the second time the two NATO allies have conducted Joint NATO Air Policing this week.

The purpose of the mission was to identify any aircraft of interest and ensure flight safety for all airspace users.

The Royal Air Force is currently deployed on Operation Azotize in Estonia and will take over leadership from the German detachment in April. The UK and Germany’s joint operation serves as a demonstration of their commitment to the security of the region and reassuring their allies.

According to a press release, the commander of the RAF’s 140 Expeditionary Air Wing Wing Commander Scott Maccoll, said:

“Now the two Air Force detachments here in Estonia have fully integrated, this interception demonstrated that the two detachments are now working extremely well together as one team.”

Wing Commander Richard Leask, the Officer Commanding IX(B) Sqn operating as part of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing also said:

“We were scrambled to intercept an aircraft that was approaching Estonian airspace. We quickly identified the Russian aircraft and then monitored it as it flew close to NATO airspace. The NATO Air Policing mission is carried out to ensure any aircraft of interest are intercepted to ensure we know who they are and maintain flight safety for all airspace users.  This is part of being a fighter pilot and is what we and our German colleagues have trained together to be able to do.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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43 COMMENTS

  1. TU134 nato code name: crusty
    It could be government transport or bomber training aircraft.
    Great joint intercept. Operating as a multinational team is good practice.

    • Agreed it’s good practice. Out of interest, do Russian aircraft flying between Kaliningrad and Russia take the route out over the Baltic avoiding the Baltic states or does Lithuania allow use of it’s airspace?

      • Dillion upto the 27th Feb 2022, Russian aircraft were allowed to overfly the Baltic states, funny enough once the ban came into place, a lot of GPS spoofing hit the area. A much more detailed explanation here

    • The RAF & Germans are in Estonia by invitation to protect Estonian skies. Your comment would only be an equivalent scenario if the Dutch/French etc. had invited the Russians in.

      • Interesting isn’t it Russia has based its whole argument of ‘legality’ in Syria on the basis it was ‘invited in’ yet it, and of course its cronies and apologists far and wide, seem not to in any way accept the very same concept when anyone else is doing it. After all, by the same logic Ukraine has invited us in whereas they have done anything but to Russia, yet who is doing all the Billy Big Bollocks threatening to keep out of it. The hypocrisy would be amusing if it were not so moronically dangerous. Plus if these flights were to or from Kallingrad that is territory that Russia illegally occupies and thus if we illegally occupied part of Russia they would have every right to intercept aircraft we flew in and out of it.

        Equally why would anyone think right and wrong simply be dictated by the ‘school bully’ against every small Country that can’t possibly compete and why shouldn’t all those small Countries stick together to be able to resist that bullying.

    • Mick wrote:
      “”Imagine Russia intercepting raf jets off the English coast. Total crassness by the raf.””

      Intercept is actually the wrong word to use, because if we took it literally it would mean that the Russian aircraft were stopped from travelling, later on in the article we are regaled to the actual mission and that is:
      “” The purpose of the mission was to identify any aircraft of interest and ensure flight safety for all airspace users.””
      Further to that, Moscow has a huge penchant of playing silly buggers by flying aircraft without transponders toward national airspaces and then turning away at the last moment , usually using heavy bombers. Now this was normal Russian behaviour until the end of the USSR. When in the name of détente such aggressive behaviour was put on hold by both sides

      But for some very strange reason Putin restarted his probing of Western Air defences in 2005 and between 2005 and feb 2022, resulting in 504 RAF quick reaction alerts .  

      Also and a big also this has been during a time when Russia has been rearming whislt the RAF has been disarming

    • Why, they are on a NATO mission, in a NATO country at the invitation of a sovereign nation….flying in that nation’s airspace.

    • If Russia was in a military alliance with France and France asked them to provide air patrol of that area it would be totally acceptable.

    • I think they have stripped the armed forces bare,there are less than 80,000 soldiers left but more civil servants than that employed by the mod ,perhaps they are going to send them to the frontline with clipboards instead of the 200 tanks we have left in our armoury , Winston Churchill is turning in his grave at the asset stripping that’s been done ,we had two aircraft carriers built but no fighters to put on them ,sorry for the rant ,our servicemen and women are the worlds best

      • Well that’s what you get when a government focus is pleasing the EU with its 25% corp tax. The outcome will be less tax to the treasury ( companies will leave) and more cuts to defence and Mod more concerned with electric powered aircraft and fairy dust coming out of the exhaust pipe of armour than what supposed to come out of the lethal end.

        • That business tax looked ok and someone has got to pay tax. I doubt it’s got anything to do with the EU. More to do with trying to balance budgets.
          From my very limited knowledge it seemed to only apply after a set amount of profit was made and it could be offset by purchasing new equipment etc to make a business more efficient.
          The rate was dropped quite a bit a few years ago with the argument being it will bring in business. The U.K. economy didn’t improve lots as the rate went down.
          I’m no expert on the topic.

      • Stop it with the old we have 2 aircraft carrier and no aircraft….the Uk has

        29 F35s with seven more this year and eleven more in 24/25..

        then the rotor assets which are just as needed:
        30 Merlin mk2s for ASW and AEW
        28 navy wildcats
        34 army Wildcats
        25 Merlin mark4s
        41 chinooks
        22 Apache

        so that’s a whole load of actual in service aircraft that can all fly off the two carriers.

        • Another post waiting for approval still to come. In the meantime!

          We still have the F-35B albeit in reduced numbers down from the original 138 aircraft due largely to increasing costs as posted on here last week as I recall.

          “Pratt & Whitney also has an AETP engine to offer, but it has instead pitched what it calls the F135 Engine Core Upgrade, which would allow the company to keep its F-35 monopoly.

          Latka said in December that company believes the ECU approach would save $40 billion versus an all-new powerplant, counting development and integration costs and the need to flesh out a global support enterprise with new engines and parts.

          “Our F135 Engine Core Upgrade will incorporate advanced propulsion technologies…and maintain the existing balanced industrial base. It’s also the only solution that works for all F-35 customers and enables full Block 4 capabilities starting in 2028.”

          Tweedie said GE could have a XA100 production model ready for the F-35A and C in 2028—and the engines would integrate “seamlessly” with both aircraft.

          But making an AETP engine fit the F-35B, which has a unique propulsion system for vertical operations, will require substantially more development work, Tweedie acknowledged.

          He declined to say how much longer an F-35B-configured engine would take to develop and bring to production. But it can be done, he insisted.

          He noted that the F-35A/C and F-35B use different versions of the F135 already; they are “not interchangeable,” although there is some commonality, he said.”

          LINK

          LINK

        • Bravo J.

          Apache as I’m sure you know will actually number 50 eventually, in 2 regiments each of 16 cabs. One of those regiments, 4 AAC, has commitments to SF/3 Cdo / Maritime.

          • Hi Daniele Indeed I kept it to the operational ones at present…with the ongoing transfer to the new cab..but yes…it’s not an inconsiderable number at all.

        • So… put ’em on the carriers, ship them half way around the world and leave home with no air cover. Great idea!
          👍

          • Umm I think you will find that we have plenty of typhoons to provide air cover for the UK.

            and actually the carrier would be a very good way to ensure our f35s survived in a European shooting war…they are far safer on a carrier which is hiding in a vast ocean or sea that on an airbase which is known about.

      • Here! Here! Old air craft, What kind of air craft is he thinking of?. The good old Spitfire, or maybe the Hurricane. I know! how about observer manned air balloons controlled from ground winches. Give the impression we are not ready as in 1939.

      • It’s Nigel living in the real world. Plenty to look forward to come 2030ish.

        And there was I thinking a war in Europe was never going to happen according to some on here eh, let alone a reduction in F-35 numbers.

        How times change.

        Any ideas on how we get more for our money Sean? Or should I say limited defence budget?

        What’s the latest news on the grounded F-35s since December? Flying yet?

        LINK

        Any updates on training aircraft for RAF Pilots?

        “The pause will be another blow for a training programme to deliver fast jet fighter pilots that has already been plagued by problems and chronic delays for years.”

        LINK

        • Look at it another way.

          2 Feb 2023

          “As current plans stand, the retirement of the Tranche 1 Typhoons will leave the RAF with just 107 aircraft in total – comprising 67 Tranche 2 and 40 Tranche 3 Eurofighters – which will be expected to cover a full force of seven frontline squadrons.”

          -30 T1’s if that goes ahead.

          The original plan for the F-35B was 138 now 74 with only confirmed orders for 48 jets. Or has that changed?

          -64 if we go ahead with 74 F-35s

          So a possible reduction in total of 94 frontline aircraft with a new cold war starting.

          What’s going to fill the gap between now and the 2030s?

          • We certainly need to do something different and think within the constraints of our defence budget.

            I mentioned above (waiting For Approval) the suggestion of a tie in South Korea that has a lot of what the army requires and some useful additions for the airforce too which we could lay our hands on fairly quickly.

            They are keen to strike up a relationship with the UK and I’m sure we could have a very good working relationship going forward.

            After all, they have a solid industrial base which is hot and turning out the products including munitions.

            They have already been approached by NATO for additional stocks.

        • As usual in your rush to undermine Western air defences you take a news item and then fabricate a story around it. No F35s have been grounded since that test flight in December – which you’d know if you’d read that opinion piece from an isolationist think-tank. Lockheed Martin suspended deliveries while they reviewed quality control.

          As for F35 numbers, you’re equally wrong there too. There’s been an uplift in the numbers ordered from 48 to 75, and the commitment to 138 still stands.

          Time for you to sell your shares in Saab while they retain some value.

          • Likewise, sell your shares in LM. I face the realities, not fiction.

            “As usual in your rush to undermine Western air defences, you take a news item and then fabricate a story around it”.

            As usual, I think outside the box and look at other ways to increase our dwindling capabilities and put what money we have to good use.

            Again, any confirmation on orders past 48 F-35s yet?

            Why the delays in order? spiralling costs perhaps? Block 4 constant delays?

            “No F35s have been grounded since that test flight in December” 

            Keep up Sean, I deal with the facts, not fantasy fleets.

            UPDATED 3/3/23 at 3:51 et PM to reflect the investigation into the root cause is still ongoing.

            “WASHINGTON — F-35 joint strike fighters that have been grounded since December can return to flight after completing a one-time hardware fix that officials now plan to apply to the entire fleet, according to a set of instructions issued by the F-35 Joint Program Office today.

            LINK

          • The Integrated Review published in March 2021 stated only vaguely there was an intention to buy “more than 48” F-35s. Speaking in a Parliamentary Defence Select Committee session, Air Marshal Richard Knighton, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff specified the exact figure for the first time in public.

            The initial tranche of 48 jets already on order will be delivered by 2025 and Knighton said the MoD now has the funding in place for the purchase of a further 26 aircraft, including the support and personnel costs.

            This will bring the UK fleet up to a total of 74 aircraft (minus the one lost) in a non-fatal accident at sea in 2021).

            n negotiations with Lockheed Martin and the JPO, the Defence Secretary has stated that the contractor must demonstrate reductions in support costs and apply more urgency to UK weapons integration.

            Work on the integration of Meteor BVRAAM and SPEAR-3 has begun but there is no definitive date for their entry into service which is largely dependent on how quickly LM can deliver the Block IV software update for the aircraft.

            The flyaway cost of an F-35B is now approximately £85M so the MoD has considerable leverage when negotiating what is potentially a £2.2Bn deal.

            It is unclear when the UK can expect delivery of this second batch but will need to reserve aircraft from the production runs which are divided into ‘Lots’.

            LM’s target is to build 156 jets per year for customers worldwide but recently COVID, inflation and supply chain issues have complicated negotiations for Lots 15-17 and the price tag may begin to rise, reversing the downward trend as production has ramped up.

            The idea that the UK could go for an F-35B / F-35A split buy has thankfully now been consigned to history but for now, it is unclear if there will be a third tranche of F35Bs.

            Knighton noted that: “the decision around further purchase beyond that 74 will be taken in the middle of the decade in the context of what we decide to do on our Future Combat Air System [FCAS] programme.”

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