Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania — When NATO’s call came, French fighter pilots showed readiness, already prepared to reduce their response time.
They boarded the van and ran to the hangars where their pre-prepared and armed Rafale jets were waiting, climbed into the cockpit and fired up the engines, sending the winds flying and screaming.
Within minutes of taking off from Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania, they were over the Baltic Sea, first intercepting and then following a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft. Supersonic Russian bombers and their fighter escort which was close to the airfield of multiple nato countries.
In a conflict situation, things can quickly get heated. But for now, differences between Russia and the military alliance are over. ukraine But not in war, just pilots on both sides seen and filmed from each other – keeping their distance like a wary tomcat with its paws open, their missiles visible, but not being used.
One of the points of Asana – the aerial ballet that takes place hundreds of times a year, away from the public eye – is to try to ensure that the bitterness between NATO and the Kremlin over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine does not escalate into open hostility.
Commanders and pilots who fly NATO’s air-police mission in the eastern part of the 32-nation military alliance say their goal is to deter, not provoke. He believes their presence is reassuring to the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – which border Russia and its ally Belarus but do not have the airpower of their own to fight off a Russian attack, if it ever happened.
“It’s a game of cat and mouse, or rather cat and cat,” said Lt. Col. Alexandre, commander of a French air force wing of four Rafales, which is sharing the Lithuanian base with another fighter squadron from Romania. Citing security concerns, the French military withheld the commander’s surname.
“We keep an eye on each other, check on each other and try to make sure this doesn’t escalate,” he said.
Alliance members take turns monitoring the Baltic skies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The French inherited the building from the Spanish contingent which now serves as their temporary headquarters. They will hand it over to Italian replacements in August. Successful teams leave plaques and badges on a wall that record their route.
NATO struggles to identify the jets and possibly take other action when Russian planes fly into Baltic airspace without switched-on transponders and without filing flight plans or communicating by radio with air traffic controllers.
“There are many occasions when, intentionally or not, they are actually not respecting the rules of ICAO — the International Civil Aviation Organization — regarding flight plans and behavior,” said Colonel Miheta Marin, commanding the Romanian contingent of six F-16s.
“So obviously we are forced to fly and make sure they are who they say they are and that their intentions are peaceful,” he said.
The arrival of spring, bringing better flying conditions, means French and Romanian travelers have been busier since deploying on a four-month NATO rotation in early April.
Marin said the interception is “getting closer every day” and “as the weather gets better, it will definitely increase.”
French aircrews – witnessed by an Associated Press journalist reporting at the airbase – had their busiest day ever on Monday.
Grounded under NATO command, French Rafales met a pair of Russian Tu-22M3 bombers and spotted their bellies carrying supersonic, anti-ship missiles, which Russia has also used in Ukraine, have been repurposed to attack ground targets, and which may be equipped to carry nuclear warheads.
The more than four-hour flight of strategic bombers from an airbase near St. Petersburg, accompanied by Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, remained in international airspace, but they were escorted beyond the coasts of NATO countries Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, doubling as they approached Denmark.
The French contingent said the Russian aircraft did not have switched-on transponders, filed flight plans or had access to radio contacts. According to the French, fighter planes from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Denmark and Romania were also flying surveillance sorties. NATO did not respond to requests for comment.
French commander Lieutenant Colonel Alexandre said it was unclear why Russian pilots behaved in a way that could endanger other users of Baltic airspace.
“We don’t know if it’s a lack of professionalism or just a means for them to test us,” he said.
He added, “But it is certain that we need to go every now and then.” “We can’t say, ‘Okay, this is normal, this time we’ll let them go.'”
