Spanish fighters in Estonia make their first flights to intercept unidentified Russian aircraft

Defense will extend until December the mission of the anti-missile battery in the Baltic country

The Spanish Eurofighters that have been monitoring the Baltic skies since last August 1 have already completed their first flights to intercept Russian aircraft that are approaching the unidentified airspace of the Atlantic Alliance.

This was revealed this Thursday by Lieutenant Colonel Luis Borque in a videoconference with the acting Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, from the Ämari airbase in Estonia. There, a total of eight Eurofighter fighters from the Air and Space Army and 130 aviators, mainly from Wing 11, participate in an air police mission.

Its mission is the surveillance of NATO airspace and the interception of aircraft that cross or approach it without identifying or without communicating their flight records. Almost always it is about Russian planes that give up their purpose as soon as the Allied planes approach.

This is how they have already been able to verify the Spanish fighters during the few days that they have been on the mission, as revealed by the lieutenant colonel, who has assured that these operations have passed without incident.

In addition, this same Thursday Robles has held a videoconference with his Estonian counterpart Hanno Pevkur to learn first-hand about the operations underway in the country and they have addressed the situation in the Sahel and specifically in Niger, mutually confirming their commitment to security and defense. of all NATO allies.

Likewise, the minister has shown her satisfaction with the initiatives underway in NATO to reinforce mutual defense and deterrence, and also with the continued support of military material to Ukraine, coordinating successfully through the European Union and the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine (the so-called Ramstein format).

Both ministers also addressed the current situation in North Africa, and specifically in the Sahel region, agreeing that it is extremely worrying for the security of the African and European peoples, and noting that Russia - also through the Wagner group - - is taking advantage of the instability of local governments, so the European Union, and also NATO, must remain vigilant and engaged in Africa.

Spain also has a 'Nasams' anti-missile battery deployed in Estonia to protect its airspace, similar to the one sent to Latvia in June last year. The system arrived in the country in April and the forecast was that the mission would last for four months, although the acting minister announced this Thursday that it will last until the air police operation also ends, on December 1.

This anti-missile system in Estonia will also be linked to the one deployed in Latvia and both are part of NATO's eastern flank air and anti-missile defense, reinforced since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Since the beginning of the military offensive, Spain has increased its troops in Latvia --they have gone from 350 soldiers to 600--, multiplied the air police missions in the Baltic and the Black Sea and a permanent naval contribution to the missions of the NATO in the Mediterranean.