The jets took off at about 4 PM local time following receipt of a signal about Il-76 aircraft flying from mainland Russia to its Kaliningrad region, Captain Donatas Suchockis, public relations officer at the army’s Joint Staff, told BNS on Thursday.
“A-Scramble was called with the goal of identifying a Russian airplane Il -76 en route to the Kaliningrad region without a plan, with a transponder but without radio communication,” said Suchockis.
This is at least the second case this year when the Alliance’s fighter-jets guarding the Baltic skies were scrambled to identify aircrafts flying above the Baltic Sea. On Monday, NATO jets accompanied two Russian transport airplanes An-22.
Last week, NATO jets did not perform any scrambles.
NATO’s air-policing mission in Lithuania is carried out by Norway and Italy.
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