Dutch F-35s Intercept Three Russian Combat Aircraft

The Dutch Ministry of Defense announced today that a pair of Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35s detected three Russian military aircraft in NATO airspace on Friday (December 6) over the Baltic Sea and escorted them back over international waters. The Netherlands had assumed the NATO Air Policing Mission earlier this month as part of the normal rotation of responsibility.

The contacts came as part of two separate instances on the same day. In the first encounter, the F-35s confronted an Antonov An-72 transport and a Sukhoi Su-24 tactical bomber. A second report that afternoon led to a similar encounter with an Ilyushin Il-20M surveillance/reconnaissance aircraft.

Netherlands Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans, said, “This is why our people are there: to protect our collective airspace against Russian threats. As was once again evident on Friday, Russian forces are active in various ways near NATO airspace.”