Take-off in six minutes and intercept in 15. These are the short times elapsed from the first scramble of the Luftwaffe Eurofighters deployed to Lithuania.
The intercepted intruder was a Russian Antonov AN-72 twin-engine transport, obviously tasked with sounding the reaction of the NATO air defense organization over the Baltic. The AN-72 remained in the area for over 50 minutes, always closely monitored by the Eurofighters which flew equipped with MBDA Iris-T missiles.
The mission was flown by Jagdgeschwader 74, which has recently replaced a Czech Republic unit in the NATO duty of protecting the air space of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Eurofighters deployed to the Lithuanian base of Siauliai in late August and were declared operational on September 1.
In November they will hand over the duty to JG 71 “Richthofen” and its old McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom, continuing in the rotational logic which since April 2004 has seen 14 NATO countries provide aircraft. The task is likely to continue for several years, until the Baltic air forces can provide their own assets.
Italian Eurofighters perform a similar task for the air defence of Albania, another recent NATO member.
