NATO intercepts of Russian aircraft stable in 2024 over prior year

PARIS — The number of times NATO fighter jet scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft approaching allied airspace over Europe has changed little in 2024 compared to 2023, even as Western leaders grow increasingly worried about Russian aggression and hybrid warfare targeting European countries within the alliance.

NATO’s Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany, saw “no sensitive uptick” in Russian air activity over Europe, an alliance official told Defense News. The number of intercepts “remained mostly the same” from the previous year, when NATO air policing missions scrambled well over 300 times to intercept Russian military aircraft approaching allied airspace, mostly over the Baltic Sea.

The alliance keeps jets on duty around the clock to scramble in case of suspicious or unannounced flights, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 means the air-policing mission established during the Cold War has taken on renewed significance. NATO faces a war on its eastern front that has prompted Russian threats, suspected acts of sabotage in the Baltic, and violations of European Union airspace by drones targeting Ukraine.

NATO forces across Europe scrambled more than 400 times in total in 2024, according to Allied Air Command. Most of the time jets are scrambled when aircraft approach European borders without properly identifying themselves or communicating with air traffic control. Allied Air Command declined to provide exact numbers on how many times NATO jets scramble and where, saying the data could reveal sensitive information potentially harmful to the security of the ongoing operation.

Scrambles to monitor Russian military aircraft reportedly saw a peak in 2022, nearly doubling from a year earlier to 570 due to the start of the war in Ukraine. The jump came amid increased activity by the Russian military, and a stronger NATO presence on Europe’s eastern flank meaning more fighter jets available for air surveillance, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing DPA.

European NATO members have beefed up their presence in the Baltic countries and on Europe’s Eastern front in response to Russia’s aggression. European air forces contribute a range of aircraft for air policing, including Dutch and Norwegian F-35s, Belgian F-16s, Italian and British Eurofighters, Spanish F/A-18s and French Rafales.

Estonia in November completed major runway renovation works at Ämari Air Base in order to better support the air-policing mission in the Baltics, with the Dutch the first to start operating NATO jets from the renovated base in December. The alliance in June held its first one-on-one dogfighting event at Ramstein Air Base since 1994

Russian military aircraft along NATO’s eastern flank have a history of not transmitting a transponder code indicating their position and altitude, not filing a flight plan or not communicating with air traffic controllers, according to Allied Air Command. Most aerial encounters between NATO and Russian jets are safe and professional, and breaches of NATO airspace by Russian military aircraft are generally rare and of short duration, according to the command.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——尽管西方领导人越来越担心俄罗斯针对联盟内欧洲国家的侵略和混合战争，但与 2023 年相比，2024 年北约战斗机紧急升空拦截接近欧洲盟军空域的俄罗斯军用飞机的次数几乎没有变化。

北约驻德国拉姆施泰因空军司令部的一位官员告诉《防务新闻》，该司令部并未发现俄罗斯在欧洲上空的空中活动出现“明显增多”的迹象。拦截次数与上一年“基本持平”。去年，北约空中警戒部队紧急升空拦截接近盟军领空的俄罗斯军用飞机超过300次，其中大部分发生在波罗的海上空。

北约联盟保持战机24小时待命，以应对可疑或未申报的航班。2022年2月俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，意味着冷战时期建立的空中警戒任务如今更具重要性。北约东线战事引发了俄罗斯的威胁、波罗的海疑似破坏活动以及无人机侵犯欧盟领空并袭击乌克兰的事件。

据盟军空军司令部统计，2024年北约在欧洲的部队共紧急升空400余次。大多数情况下，当飞机在接近欧洲边境时，如果未正确识别身份或未与空中交通管制部门进行通信，则需要紧急升空。盟军空军司令部拒绝提供北约战机紧急升空的具体次数和地点，称这些数据可能泄露敏感信息，从而危及正在进行的行动的安全。

据报道，由于乌克兰战争爆发，2022年对俄罗斯军机的监视行动达到高峰，几乎比上一年翻了一番，达到570次。自由欧洲电台/自由电台援引德新社报道称，这一激增发生在俄罗斯军方活动增加以及北约在欧洲东翼加强部署的情况下，这意味着有更多战斗机可用于空中监视。

为应对俄罗斯的侵略行为，欧洲北约成员国加强了在波罗的海国家和欧洲东部战线的军事存在。欧洲各国空军贡献了多种飞机用于空中警戒，包括荷兰和挪威的F-35战斗机、比利时的F-16战斗机、意大利和英国的台风战斗机、西班牙的F/A-18战斗机以及法国的阵风战斗机。

爱沙尼亚于11月完成了阿马里空军基地跑道的大规模翻新工程，以更好地支持波罗的海地区的空中警戒任务。荷兰于12月率先开始从翻新后的基地部署北约战机。北约于6月在拉姆施泰因空军基地举行了自1994年以来的首次一对一空战演习。

据盟军空军司令部称，俄罗斯军机在北约东翼飞行时，曾多次出现不发送指示其位置和高度的应答器代码、不提交飞行计划或不与空中交通管制员通信的情况。该司令部还表示，北约与俄罗斯战机之间的大多数空中遭遇都是安全且规范的，俄罗斯军机侵犯北约领空的情况通常很少见，且持续时间很短。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。