The Danish Ministry of Defense reported that planes of the Danish Air Force had identified two Russian planes that were flying over the North Sea without invading the space of this Scandinavian country. The two Russian bombers were flying towards the area monitored by the Netherlands, searching for the missiles NATOsaid the Royal Netherlands Air Force on Monday (14.08.2023). The Danish government confirmed that the Russian planes had “already turned around” away from NATO airspace.
And the Dutch Ministry of Defense stated, in a statement, that two F-16s of the Royal Netherlands Air Force took off this morning “to intercept two Russian bombers that flew in Dutch airspace,” which is a deployment of two combat aircraft that arrived after what is known. As a quick response alert, it was announced at 07:19 (local time and CET).
“This does not happen often, but today’s incident demonstrates the importance of rapid deployment. The F-16s are on standby 24 hours a day and can take off in a matter of minutes and intercept an unknown aircraft,” the ministry said. The Dutch F-16s landed again at Volkel Air Base, “ready to protect the Dutch area of responsibility.”
A spokesman for the Dutch Air Force said planes are intercepted if they do not have a unique identification code, do not provide a flight plan and if there is no two-way conversation. He also said that it is not uncommon for Russian aircraft to violate or approach the airspace of a European country. The Netherlands and Belgium have been taking turns for several months to protect the airspace of the entire Benelux region, which includes Luxembourg, and Dutch forces have been in charge since mid-April.
Ministry of Defense Russia It later said it activated a MIG-29 after a Norwegian plane approached Russian airspace over the Barents Sea off Russia’s Arctic coast. The ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram that the Norwegian plane did not cross Russian airspace. A month and a half ago denounced British air raid in the Black Sea.
lgc (efe/rtr)
