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Romanian Air Force: Russian military transport aircraft - intercepted near Baltic States' airspace.
A Russian military transport aircraft was intercepted, on Tuesday, by the Romanian Air Force, which is on an air policing mission in the Baltic States region, told Agerpres.
"The most recent interception mission for the Carpathian Vipers took place on May 30, when F-16s were alerted by the NATO Air Operations Center in Uedem, Germany. A military transport aircraft, belonging to the Russian Federation, was detected in NATO's area of responsibility, near the airspace of the Baltic countries. According to the Alliance's standard procedures, after the interception, the aircraft was safely escorted until the air situation was clarified," the representatives of the Romanian Air Force informed on Facebook.
A detachment consisting of approximately 100 airmen and four F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force participates in the enhanced air policing mission in the Baltic States, between April and July.
The main objective of the mission carried out in the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is to prevent the violation of allied airspace and to provide assistance to military and civilian aircraft in emergency situations that occur during flight.
The personnel who are deployed in Lithuania, at the air base in Siauliai, mostly come from the 53rd Fighter Squadron "Warhawks" of the 86th Air Base.
The head of the detachment, which are symbolically named "Carpathian Vipers", is Commander Cosmin Vlad. An experienced pilot, he is part of the Air Force General Staff and has represented the Air Force in numerous national and international missions.
The Enhanced Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States under the command of NATO - Baltic Air Policing (BAP), as part of the military monitoring of the airspace of the Baltic states, is carried out on the basis of a system of rotation of the tasks carried out by the allied countries starting in 2004. In 2007, the Romanian Air Force also participated in this mission with four MiG-21 LanceR aircraft.
