Allied forces launch joint patrols close to Russia after studies of drone incursions into allied airspace.
Printed On 11 Oct 2025
The UK has stated two Royal Air Drive (RAF) plane joined a 12-hour NATO patrol earlier this week close to Russia’s border, following a sequence of Russian drone and plane incursions into alliance airspace.
“This was a considerable joint mission with our US and NATO allies,” Defence Minister John Healey stated on Saturday, as considerations rise that Russia’s conflict in Ukraine will spill over into Europe.
Beneficial Tales
record of three objectsfinish of record
“Not solely does this present beneficial intelligence to spice up the operational consciousness of our Armed Forces, however sends a robust message of NATO unity to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and our adversaries,” he added.
The mission concerned an RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance jet and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane flying from the Arctic area previous Belarus and Ukraine, supported by a US Air Drive KC-135 refuelling airplane.
British officers stated the operation adopted a number of incursions into the airspace of NATO members, together with Poland, Romania, and Estonia.
Rising airspace tensions
In latest weeks, Poland and its allies have strengthened air defences amid rising Russian drone exercise. Earlier this month, Warsaw deployed further methods alongside its border with Ukraine – which stretches about 530km (330 miles) – after unidentified drones briefly entered Polish airspace.
Poland briefly closed a part of its airspace southeast of Warsaw in late September throughout a serious Russian assault throughout Ukraine. It was the second such incident this yr, with Polish and NATO forces beforehand intercepting Russian drones that crossed the border – marking their first direct navy engagement with Moscow because the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022.
Elsewhere, airports in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland have at occasions additionally briefly suspended flights on account of sightings of unidentified drones. Romania and Estonia have instantly accused Russia, which has dismissed the claims as “baseless”.
Putin has pledged a “vital” response to what he referred to as “Europe’s militarisation”, rejecting solutions that Moscow plans to assault NATO as “nonsense”.
“They’ll’t imagine what they’re saying, that Russia goes to assault NATO,” he stated on Thursday at a overseas coverage discussion board in Sochi. “They’re both extremely incompetent if they honestly imagine it as a result of it’s unimaginable to imagine this nonsense, or they’re merely dishonest.”
Putin stated he was carefully monitoring Europe’s navy build-up and warned that Russia wouldn’t hesitate to reply. “In Germany, for instance, it’s stated that the German military ought to grow to be the strongest in Europe. Very nicely. We hear that and are watching to see what is supposed by it,” he stated. “Russia won’t ever present weak point or indecisiveness. We merely can’t ignore what is going on.”
Relations between Moscow and the European Union have continued to deteriorate since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, driving the bloc to strengthen its collective defences amid fears the conflict might spill throughout NATO borders.