Former Estonian Air Force commander Jaak Tarien said that Russian fighter jets flying along the border of Estonian airspace are a relatively frequent occurrence, writes ERR News.
Also, as Tarien pointed out, hostile aircraft, especially when conducting reconnaissance, turn off their transmitters. Therefore, allied forces must raise their fighters to visually identify violators.
On the 19th of September, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets flew into Estonian airspace without permission and spent about 12 minutes there. The aircraft had not filed a flight plan, their transmitters were turned off, and contact with Estonian air traffic controllers was not established.
Tarien, who currently heads the flying robot manufacturer Lendurai, said on the Välisilm program that such incidents occur quite often. He said that while the Russians are flying over international waters, the only reason to intervene is if the flight plan has not been reported and the transmitters have been turned off. The former commander explained that on the 19th of August, Estonia had probably already received information about the Russian fighters from Finland, which means that the Italian Air Force NATO fighters took off from the Emari base before the Russians entered Estonian airspace.
Although the exact reaction time is confidential information,
NATO fighters can reach the target within a few minutes.
Tariens explained that there are different levels of readiness, but the highest of them are costly. In peacetime, conventional aircraft are in the hangar, and the pilots are ready to start the engines at any time. If an alert is issued, the aircraft are scrambled.
The fact that Finland and Sweden are now part of NATO also helps in responding to Russian airspace violations. “Now that Finland has been a NATO member for over a year, coordination has become much easier. If Russian fighter jets switch on their transponders, submit a flight plan, and communicate with Estonian air traffic control, there’s no reason to intercept them. Unfortunately, they frequently don’t do that,” Tarien said. He noted that the three MiG-30 fighters met the criteria for NATO fighters to be scrambled.
In peacetime, the role of the allies is to identify unknown aircraft and try to get the pilots’ attention so that they can establish contact.
The entry of the MiG-30 into Estonian airspace prompted the Estonians to call a meeting of NATO member states, just two weeks after Poland did. There, on the night of the 10th of September, at least 19 Russian drones entered NATO airspace.
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