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In the past four months alone, Spanish fighter jets have been forced to intercept as many as 26 unidentified Russian aircraft while the Spanish Air Force has been stationed at the Siauliai base in Lithuania as part of a NATO surveillance mission of Baltic airspace.

 

Spain has been participating in this operation since 2004 in support of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which lack combat air forces to monitor the border with Russia.

 

According to Lieutenant Colonel Bayardo Abos Alvarez-Buiza, alerts known as ‘alpha scrambles’ are activated when aircraft from mainland Russia fly over Kaliningrad, and while this is not a direct violation of Baltic airspace, which would signify an attack on NATO itself, they are violating international regulations.

 

One such ‘alpha scramble’ was activated right in the middle of a press conference between Spanish President Pedro Sanchez and his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nauseda, during a visit to the air base in July. Both leaders were meeting in front of two Eurofighter jets which were sent into the air moments later to intercept the Russian aircraft.

 

Since 2015, the Air Force has carried out a total of 161 ‘alpha scramble’ missions during its participation in the Baltic Air Police operation.

 

Image: US Marines Twitter