U.S. F-15Cs performing Baltics Air Policing were scrambled on Monday to intercept a Russian Il-20.
According to the Latvia’s Military, the U.S. Air Force F-15C deployed to Šiauliai, Lithuania, to provide Air Policing in the Baltics region, intercepted an Il-20 spyplane.
Russian Air Force missions in the area often requires NATO jet fighters to perform Alert Scrambles, to intercept Il-20 spyplanes, Tu-22M Backfire bombers and Su-27 fighter jets. Such close encounters have become a bit more frequent since Russian invasion of Crimea and subsequent international crisis over Ukraine.
On Feb. 24, two F-15Cs taking part to a flyby in Estonia were diverted to intercept a Russian plane before overflying the city of Pärnu.
On Apr. 25, two Tu-95H bombers were intercepted by RAF Typhoons, Dutch and Danish F-16s during a long range patrol around UK.
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Image credit: U.S. Air Force
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