On August 3rd, but the news was only given today, two Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000, taking off from the base in Šiauliai, Lithuania, intercepted a pair of Russian Sukhoi Su-27s that had entered the Lithuanian FIR without authorization over the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, the released images are of poor quality and do not allow for a more precise identification of the two intercepted fighters.
Italy participates in the NATO Air Policing activity in Lithuania with Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for the surveillance and protection of NATO’s airspace.
The mission of Air Policing in the Baltic States is called Baltic Air Policing (BAP). Defending the Eastern flank of NATO in the current political-strategic context has become one of the Alliance’s top priorities, operating 24/7 and 365 days a year to ensure the sovereignty of the participating nations in their airspace.
The Air Policing mission in Lithuania is conducted under the command and control of one of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOC) located in Uedem, Germany, under the supervision of NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) in Ramstein, Germany.