Turkish Fighters Deployed to Poland Make Their First Intercept

Excerpts from NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

RAMSTEIN, Germany – Two Turkish F-16s flying from Malbork, Poland under NATO’s Air Policing mission made their first intercept of an unknown aircraft on 20 July, 21….

In the morning of 20 July, the Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany, recorded an unidentified track in the Baltic Sea flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia and ordered an alert scramble for the Turkish F-16s mission to identify that track. After take-off, the Turkish F-16s, flying under NATO control approached and identified a Russian Il-20 (COOT ALPHA).

Photograph from NATO.