On Friday, the U.S. Air Force released footage of “safe and standard” intercepts of Russian aircraft during NATO’s Baltic air policing mission.
The video footage of two intercepts from Nov. 23 and on Dec. 13, 2017, was taken from cameras inside the cockpits of F-15s from the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, belonging to the 48th Fighter Wing of RAF Lakenheath, in the United Kingdom.
The video shows two Russian Navy Su-30 Flankers flying in the Baltics before they’re intercepted by American F-15s because they did not broadcast the proper codes required by air traffic control and had no flight plan on file, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa said, according to Stars and Stripes.
During the United States’ four-month rotation in the air policing mission, U.S. fighter jets scrambled on 30 occasions to identify Russian aircraft flying near NATO air space, U.S. Air Forces Europe spokesperson Capt. Kay Nissen told Stars and Stripes.
The United States’ rotation began in August 2017, prior to Russia’s Zapad 2017 exercise.
The United States completed its fifth rotation since 2004 on Jan. 8, which is when Denmark takes over for the mission.
