"NATO Intercepts Russian Jets Over The Baltic Sea" Topic

"Seven Russian aircraft were intercepted by the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission while flying in international airspace near Latvia, the country's National Armed Forces said on Twitter Wednesday. Typhoon fighters from the Spanish and Italian air forces were scrambled on Tuesday to intercept the Russian aircraft, which included four Su-27 fighters as well as two An-26 and one An-12 transport planes.

In a separate tweet on Wednesday, the Latvian military also reported seeing three Russian Kilo-class submarines, support ships and a hydrographic survey vessel just 30 miles from Latvia's territorial waters.

On Tuesday, a Russian warship was spotted 28 miles from the coast, and on Monday a Russian submarine was seen at a similar distance…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Again, technically doing nothing wrong, but given the current atmosphere an 'in your face' show of force with potential aggression that is bound to raise tensions.

And, they're apparently going to base Tu-22M Backfires in Crimea too, along with the 10 x Su-27s, and 4 x Su-30s already there.

Apparently, those are optimized for naval attack, so the theory is they're there to counterbalance those NATO vessels exercising in the Black Sea.

Of course, they could probably be used to threaten Mariupol as well.

3 x Kilo subs were spotted about 30 miles off Latvia, and apparently other Russian naval vessels were present as well. Latvia is monitoring the situation there.

Also, on a somewhat related note, apparently they're testing the IL-76's ability to be used as a bomber, by strapping some of those under its wings. I guess that means Putin's worried they don't have enough dedicated bombers to perform the job, if needed.

Finally, just read that the US 3rd Sqdrn, 2nd Cav will be holding a lengthy parade along the Eastern European border, with 120 Strykers. They'll be showing the flag to Russians on the other side of the border, and will be staying in a different city every night, along their 1,100 mile long journey.

So, if people didn't believe before, it really does seem a bit chilly, even though Spring is just around the corner.

Appears to me the Second Cold War is definitely back on.

Cold War Part II … Sounds like a bit of fun … until it gets out of control and someone gets "hurt" …

I kind of miss it – things were simpler then…

Well … there were certainly less terrorists attacks … it seemed …

In a sign of continuing tensions between Russia and the West, Lithuanian authorities said eight Russian fighter jets had been intercepted over international waters in the Baltic Sea by a Nato patrol.

A Lithuanian spokeswoman said civil aviation had been endangered during Tuesday's incident because the Su-27 and Su-34 planes had switched off their transponders to avoid radar.

Of course they keep doing that there is a chance they will fly into each other….

A Lithuanian spokeswoman said civil aviation had been endangered during Tuesday's incident because the Su-27 and Su-34 planes had switched off their transponders to avoid radar.

Of course they keep doing that there is a chance they will fly into each other…

Are there any mid-to-long range IR guided missiles? Or beasts like the Phoenix that are inertially guided with active terminal homing?

Because the other option is a QF16 or something similar for the Russians to "crash" into.

The Russians have always been keen on medium/long-range IR-homing missiles. Not something that we've ever bothered with.

The risk is that eventually someone will step too far, then someone will shoot something…

We're seeing reports of 11 Russian aircraft intercepted (presumably all in one sortie), today, over the Baltic.

NATO believes the Russians are studying reaction times, and interception routes/methods.

There are more than 100 Russian aircraft involved in the exercises.

"And, they're apparently going to base Tu-22M Backfires in Crimea too, along with the 10 x Su-27s, and 4 x Su-30s already there."
The Soviet (oops! Russian) Air force has got to be somewhere. Rebasing aircraft is as good a way as stating your claim to terriatory as anything. The TU22 is old and the flankers will have to fly quite a way before they get anywhere sensitive.
Have you seen the satellite imagery of Kaliningrad?Aircraft just dumped around any old how (abandoned?) and no visible maintainance facilities. Ok images my be two or three years old now. But it is quite 'likely' that some airframes are working extra hard to be at such a high operational state. Perhaps smoke and mirrors at work here?