French pilots will be NATO’s “sky police” over the Baltic and the Baltic States

Over the Baltic, NATO planes patrol and “intercept” Russian military planes, particularly due to the proximity of the Kaliningrad enclave.

At 30,000 feet above Germany, the three Mirage 2000s of the French Air Force slowly approach the tanker plane. An Airbus A330 MRTT deploys two long pipes ending in a basket at the end of each of its wings. A pilot announces “contact”, that is to say that the fighter’s refueling pole has just entered the end of the basket. The transfer of six tons of kerosene can begin.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has considerably strengthened its surveillance system on the European borders close to Russia. NATO planes patrol and often “intercept” Russian fighters and military aircraft, particularly over the Baltic. The Russians have an enclave there, that of Kaliningrad, wedged between Poland and Lithuania: it is the spearhead of the Russian military system facing NATO.

The Mirage 2000s will hold so-called sky police alerts over the Baltic States and the Baltic Sea for the next four months. They will be based in Siauliai, Lithuania. “Alerts from the sky police in the Baltic States are taken 24 hours a day, seven days a week by NATOexplains Colonel Pierre Gaudillière, spokesperson for the general staff. They take off on alert in a device that is commanded by NATO and if necessary, they will refuel on NATO planes, including French planes today, to extend their time in the area.”

“Over the last four months, we have had 60 interceptions”

On the tarmac of the Lithuanian base of Siauliai where the MRTT has just landed, the Mirage 2000 patrol leader, Commander Julien, explains the principle of these interception missions: these Mirages will take off in a few minutes to recognize any aircraft circulating without flight plan or in radio silence. “The goal is to be seen by arriving slowly from the side and approaching to a distance of around a hundred meters to often take photos, to allow later identification in the reports in particular. We always take off with two planes, which is how the NATO procedure was created.”explains the commander.

Due to the proximity of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, supplied only by air, Russian military flights in the sector are frequent, recalls Colonel Federico Sacco-Maino, head of the Italian detachment which has been providing air policing since August: “Over the last four months, we have had 60 interceptions, this means that activity has increased but we do not exactly have a statistic that it will continue like this. Now with winter, we are expecting fewer interceptions .”

The French Mirage 2000 and Belgian F16 will in turn provide air policing over the Baltic until March.