Overview

• Italy’s F-35s scrambled under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing and intercepted three Russian MiG-31s after roughly 12 minutes in Estonian airspace.
• Estonia said the jets entered near Vaindloo Island over the Gulf of Finland with no flight plans, transponders off, and no radio contact with air traffic control.
• Tallinn summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires and labeled the violation “unprecedentedly brazen,” while officials signaled possible Article 4 consultations.
• The breach follows a Sept. 9–10 swarm of roughly 19–20 Russian drones into Poland, several of which were shot down, after which Poland invoked Article 4 and NATO launched Operation Eastern Sentry.
• Romania recently tracked a Russian drone without firing, reinforcing allied debates over scalable, lower‑cost counter‑drone defenses alongside heightened surveillance and deployments.