First time: Italian F 35s intercept Russian planes over the Baltic Sea
The F-35s of the Air-32nd Wing Task Force of the Italian Air Force took off from the Malbork air base in Poland last September 21st, for a "Scramble", an emergency interception, in Baltic Sea area. Radar had identified unidentified Russian planes flying near NATO borders.
What makes the situation particular is that it was the first interception of F 35s on Russian aircraft, and specifically of Italian F-35 aircraft engaged in surveillance of NATO borders.
An air police mission
NATO, responsible for airspace security with around 35,000 daily air movements, employs an air policing mission to ensure security. This mission operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year under the watchful eye of Allied Air Command.
Tristan Sauer, aerospace, defense and security analyst at GlobalData, commented on the role of the Italian Air Task Force-32nd Stormo in strengthening NATO Air Policing.
“The 32nd is currently equipped with the latest F-35 Lighting II fifth generation fighters and was the first European air unit to field the aircraft in 2016, making them the optimal choice for conducting joint air policing missions and provide deterrence along the tensest axis of NATO's border with Russia thanks to their training and experience in joint operations.”
A mission at the edge of the Baltic
NATO's commitment extends to member countries without sufficient air capabilities. In the Baltic region, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia receive support from other NATO members on a rotating basis, ensuring constant security. So even Italian fighters, very far from their base, take part in these patrols.
NATO's air policing mission in the Baltic often involves visual identification of Russian Federation aircraft. The geographical proximity of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad leads to regular flights near NATO airspace without adequate communications or flight plans. This leads to intercept missions which, fortunately, normally end with the identification of the aircraft and nothing more.
NATO also has an anti-missile interception component in the area which, fortunately, never went into action.
Far from the base of assignment
The 32nd Wing would be based at Amendola airport, Foggia and controls two groups, the XIII equipped with F 35 fighter-bombers and the XXVIII equipped with remote-controlled vehicles. The 32nd wing was created for land bombing in 1936 and at the beginning of World War II it was equipped with the Savoia Marchetti S 79. After the war it moved first to the G91 and then to the AMX, before moving on to the F 35 and then to the remote-controlled aircraft and the F 35s.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
The article First time: Italian F 35s intercept Russian planes over the Baltic Sea comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/prima-volta-f-35-italiani-intercettano-aerei-russi-sul-mar-baltico/ on Tue, 26 Sep 2023 06:00:18 +0000.