RAF logs record number of intercepts for Baltic Air Policing mission

An RAF Typhoon alongside one of the 50 Russian military aircraft intercepted during the service's record-breaking stint on the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission. (Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has recorded the most intercepts of Russian aircraft of any NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission it has been involved in to date.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Janes on 7 August that the 50 Russian military aircraft intercepted by RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 combat aircraft operating across the Baltic region from mid-March to early August were the most recorded since the service first participated in the BAP mission in October 2004 (the mission itself was launched in March of that year, before being upgraded to the enhanced BAP in 2015 following Russia).

The MoD announced the number on 3 August, at the close of the latest RAF detachment operating out of Ämari Air Base in Estonia. Over five months of the latest detachment of the UK's Operation ‘Azotize', members of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing (140 EAW) and four Typhoon jets from 1 and 9 squadrons performed Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties over the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.