Russia Steps Up Probing of Nordic-Baltic Region - four NATO Allies respond in one day

US Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work took Russia to task for its recent behaviour in the Nordic-Baltic Region at a press conference following a meeting with eight delegates from the region on 7 October 2016.Finland said two Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jets violated its airspace on separate occasions in the Gulf of Finland south of Porvoo that same day.Russian military aviation over the Baltic Sea has been intense,Finland noted;while Iceland had complained that two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers flew too close to civilian airliners,flying between 1800-2700 meters/6,000-9,000 feet below a flight from Reykjavik,Iceland to Stockholm,Sweden.
There is absolutely no justification for it,Secretary Work said.Regardless of the timing,regardless of the circumstances,these are unsatisfactory manoeuvres that are unsafe and unprofessional.Hopefully we'll be able to see a moderation in them to avoid an accident or a tragic occurrence.Unfortunately,these are becoming the norm rather than the exception.*
Attending the US-Nordic-Baltic forum were Denmark,Estonia,Finland,Iceland,Latvia,Lithuania,Norway and Sweden.The forum dealt with regional security issues such as Russian behaviour in the Baltic Sea and ways to increase defence cooperation-including in the War On ISIL.*
Preceding the forum,the French Ministry of Defence revealed that,on 22 September 2016,four NATO Allies had scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bombers:
1.The extraordinary chase began when Norway scrambled two F-16 Fighting Falcons to escort the Blackjacks towards the north of Scotland.
2.The British sent Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth to intercept the Russian bombers and shadow them around the west of Scotland and Ireland.As a precaution,more Typhoons were scrambled from RAF Coningsly in Lincolnsire,but didn't intercept the Blackjacks in the end.
3.Two French Rafale fighters then intercepted the Russians 100 km off the Britanny coast.Two other Rafales took over as the bombers headed south.
4.Finally,two Spanish F-18s shadowed the Blackjacks north of Bilbao,at which point the Russians turned around and flew home.*
Russia has also deployed its Iskander-M mobile nuclear-capable missile system to its territory of Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast,which is wedged between Poland and Lithuania.Poland said this was very alarming and of the highest concern;but Russia insists it is only an exercise and has been done before.

Tense Encounter:Russian Su-27 Fighter and US Air Force RC-135 Spy Plane

A US Air Force Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was buzzed by a Russian Su-27 Flanker in international air space over the Baltic Sea on 7 April,the Pentagon revealed on Sunday.The unarmed and unescorted RC-135 was intercepted off of Northern Poland while flying a routine route,most likely to monitor Russian forces in Kaliningrad and Western Russia.The Pentagon plans to file a complaint with Russia through diplomatic channels,spokesman Mark Wright said.During the encounter,the Flanker came within six meters of the RC-135,approaching at a very high rate of speed from behind the RC-135 and circling it,also rolling over to flash its armament.This maneuver was then repeated before disengagement.
In a statement,the Pentagon's chief spokesman,Colonel Steve Warren,US Army,said that unprofessional air intercepts have the potential to cause harm to all aircrews involved.More importantly,the careless and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to escalate tensions between countries,COL Warren added.
In service in several variants since 1961,the 22 USAF RC-135s are based at Offut Air Force Base,Nebraska and deployed to forward operating locations worldwide.They are used by the USAF Air Combat Command's 55th Wing and Britain's Royal Air Force Number 51 Squadron to support theatre and national intelligence consumers with near-real time collections,analysis and dissemination.The current variants in service include:
-3 RC-135S Cobra Ball ballistic missile intelligence planes
-2 RC-135U Combat Sent adversary radar emitter intelligence planes
-17 RC-135V/W Rivet Joint SIGINT planes
-a Royal Air Force RC-135W SIGINT plane,which was delivered in September 2013 and has been placed in service in Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIL since July 2014.Two more are on order.The three aircraft will replace the Nimrod R1.
Rivet Joint is the standard airborne SIGINT platform,detecting,identifying and geolocating signals within the entire electromagnetic spectrum with its advanced sensor suite.The Rivet Joint crew consists of cockpit crew;electronic warfare officers;intelligence operators;and airborne systems maintenance personnel.
Rivet Joint airframe and mission system modifications are made exclusively by contractor L-3 Communications.L-3 is a US-based prime contractor in aerospace systems and national security solutions,providing a broad range of communications and electronic systems and products for military and commercial platforms.*
Boeing (BA),L-3 Communications Holdings Inc (LLL)