Overview

• NATO Air Command said on August 28 that two Italian F-35s launched from Ämari, Estonia, in response to a Russian aircraft.
• The NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem issued an immediate activation while the jets were already airborne.
• Controllers acted after an unidentified radar track appeared in international Baltic airspace under NATO responsibility.
• The jets are part of Italy’s Task Force Air on the Baltic Thunder III rotation, with aircraft from the 32nd and 6th Wings.
• Operations run under Italy’s COVI command within NATO’s continuous Baltic air-policing effort, with no escalation reported.