Two Italian Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighters scrambled from Ämari Air Base in Estonia on August 13 to intercept Russian aircraft approaching NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea, NATO Air Command confirmed. The mission, the first time Italy’s fifth-generation jets have been used for such an operation in the Baltic, came less than 24 hours after Hungarian Gripens carried out a similar scramble.
According to NATO, the Italian jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber and a Su-27 fighter flying without flight plans or active transponders, a pattern the Alliance has linked to deliberate testing of its air defenses. The Su-27 bore markings associated with a regiment based in Kaliningrad, placing it within rapid striking distance of the Baltic air policing zone.
The quick reaction launch underscores the increasingly busy skies over the Baltic, where NATO pilots are encountering Russian aircraft more frequently and often with little or no communication. Such flights force Allied jets to respond at short notice, adding pressure to maintain constant readiness.
For Italy, the interception demonstrated that its F-35s with their stealth profile, advanced sensors, and networked targeting systems are now part of the front line in NATO’s air policing mission. While these jets have been deployed in Eastern Europe before, this was the first time they were called into action in the Baltic.
The back-to-back scrambles by Hungarian and Italian fighters point to what NATO officials see as a sustained uptick in Russian aerial activity, with Moscow seemingly probing Alliance reaction times and coordination.