Russian planes have tested NATO’s air defenses to an unusual degree over the past several days, and that has alliance officials concerned.
NATO said it monitored four groups of Russian military aircraft conducting large-scale maneuvers over Europe on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“These sizable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace,” a NATO statement said.
Four Russian bombers and four tankers were intercepted over the North Sea by Norwegian fighter jets on Wednesday, the statement said. Two of the bombers continued flying around Europe toward Portugal, triggering air defenses along the way, before turning back toward Russia.
At about the same time, two Russian bombers and two fighters were intercepted by Turkish fighters over the Black Sea, and a number of other Russian aircraft were intercepted over the Baltic Sea.
This activity followed another large-scale intercept of Russian fighter jets on Tuesday over the Baltic Sea, the statement said.
The latest Russian maneuvers follow a pattern of increasing aggressiveness in the skies by Moscow. NATO said it has conducted more than 100 intercepts of Russian military aircraft since the beginning of the year, about three times as many as were conducted in 2013.
On Oct. 21, a Russian spy plane flew into Estonian airspace in the most serious violation since the end of the Cold War.
The escalation has become a growing concern among alliance members, said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
“Today’s reports are another reminder of the necessity of a strong, united and well-equipped NATO alliance in the face of an aggressor state,” he said Wednesday.
