Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft deployed to Ämari Air Base in Estonia were scrambled at around 11:30 today to intercept a Russian Beriev Be-200 aircraft flying from mainland Russia towards the Baltic Sea.
The interception was conducted by Aeronautica Militare jets operating as part of NATO’s Air Policing mission, which provides continuous protection of Alliance airspace, particularly along NATO’s eastern flank.
NATO Air Policing involves the rapid reaction of fighter aircraft to unidentified or non-compliant military aircraft approaching or operating near NATO airspace. Aircraft are scrambled to visually identify, monitor and, where necessary, escort such flights, without entering hostile airspace or engaging unless required.
The deployment of Italian Typhoons to Ämari forms part of NATO’s wider enhanced Vigilance Activities, including operations such as Eastern Sentry, aimed at reinforcing air defence and deterrence measures in response to increased Russian military aviation activity in the region.
According to NATO figures, more than 500 air policing scrambles were conducted across NATO airspace during 2025, reflecting sustained levels of activity along the Alliance’s borders.
NATO Air Policing missions are carried out on a rotational basis by Allied nations and operate 24 hours a day to maintain the security and integrity of NATO territory.
Flying boat = Cooool
It’s a shame the Russians kept building these and we stopped, flexible basing is much easier when you can land on water. There are ASW versions which would be interesting operating out of Norwegian fjords or Pacific atolls. Also like I said, cooool.
Could always buy the Japanese flying boats
Talking of cool, do you know of the Caspian Sea Monster?
The Ekranoplan.
Yes of course! Extremely cool but also gloriously impractical. It’s good that the USSR was able to build things that western nations would never have built a cost-effectiveness case for.
I have always loved flying boats, as they combine my two favourite things. You will remember that for a while my pfp was a Saro Princess. I sometimes wonder what could have happened if more had come of the Short Shetland immediately following WW2 and whether as a result we would now be flying something a little like these Russian aircraft rather than the P8s. Japan managed to retain their impressive expertise (underrated aspect of their aircraft technology) after the war and we were in an even stronger position following on from the Sunderland and Empire types.
As Saro said in their adverts for the SR.A/1 it’s very difficult to knock out the runway of a flying boat squadron.
wwwalamycom/1950-british-advertisement-for-saunders-roe-featuring-the-saunders-roe-sra1-prototype-flying-boat-jet-fighter-aircraft-image187028436.html
I think there is certainly a case for this to be made for long-range air-sea search & rescue given our proximity to the Atlantic. Helicopters do the job well but only out so far. Mid-Atlantic we could definitely use something else.
SAR, ASW, it’s good for MPAs to be able to influence the surface of the sea more directly. The Japanese do it well with the US-2 and I’ve seen some calls from ex-USN figures to buy some of them as they are worried about the lack of mid-ocean CSAR in the case of a war with China.
From our perspective flying boats would both take a lot of the pressure off Lossiemouth to host our entire north-facing air force and if the budget stretched to a depot ship would offer some interesting forwards basing arrangements as well.
Russian aircraft seem to be spread a little thin nowadays. I wonder how many they actually have left.
These are quite new, I saw somewhere that this particular flying boat was built in 2020 hence the shinyness.
Sort of suggests it doesn’t get out much.
Damn, this is actually a really cool intercept… Though, I’m kinda asking why are they sending this to be intercepted instead of a bomber or a long range fighter.
Well it is possible that because Ukraine are chipping away at the Russian planes within range they need to be creative when sending out planes to annoy NATO. You would not have thought this plane is at home in the Baltic.