A Russian plane has been intercepted on its way to Kaliningrad. It was the first joint “alarm start” of Germany and Great Britain.

British and German intercepted a Russian plane near Estonian airspace. A British and a German Eurofighter identified a Russian refueling plane and escorted a Russian AN-148 machine into international airspace, the German Air Force said on Twitter. According to media reports, the crew of the refueling plane on the flight from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad did not contact Estonian air traffic control.

“First joint alarm launch”, says the contribution of the Air Force. Since early March, the British and Germans have formed a joint NATO patrol to protect Baltic airspace, the “Baltic Air Police”.

An Air Force and Royal Air Force Eurofighter stand ready for an alarm launch, where they will take off a maximum of 15 minutes after an alarm is triggered from Ämari Air Base in northern Estonia, according to the website of the Bundeswehr. “They are used, for example, when unknown aircraft without a transponder signal or radio contact are in Baltic airspace,” he explains.

Such interception maneuvers are routine, and were even before the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. However, the situation is tense at the moment: on Tuesday, a Russian jet and an American drone collided over the Black Sea. The United States accuses Russia of provocations that ultimately led to the drone crash. Moscow denies the accusations. Read more about it here.