Three aircraft intercepted by Italian Typhoons, which were not complying with air traffic control communications. In the early afternoon of today, 27 February, two Italian Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, already in flight for a training mission, were re-tasked for an “Alpha scramble” to intercept three aircraft that were not complying with air traffic communication procedures.
The two aircraft, which had taken off from the military airport of Ämari in Estonia, where the 36th Wing Air Task Force is deployed, were scrambled by NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany, and, with the assistance of Italian “fighter control” personnel, intercepted three Russian aircraft—an Il-20 “Coot” escorted by two Su-27 “Flankers”—within a few minutes, as they were crossing Baltic airspace without properly identifying themselves.
This is the fifth “Alpha scramble” for the Italian Eurofighters, which have been redeployed to Estonia since the beginning of January as part of the NATO Air Policing mission.
The “scramble” is the operational activity consisting of the rapid activation of a pair of fighter jets in order to intercept and identify an unknown aircraft violating the Alliance's airspace, or failing to properly identify itself to air traffic control, in order to guarantee the safety of the skies against any eventual and/or potential threat.
In 2004, with the Baltic states and Bulgaria joining the Atlantic Alliance, the airspace of those countries became an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic airspace and, as such, were included in NATO's air and missile defence system. This system also includes Air Policing activity, which consists of continuous aerial surveillance aimed at ensuring the integrity and security of NATO airspace.
