A trio of Russian MiG-31 Foxhounds crossed into Estonian airspace near Vaindloo Island, forcing NATO to prove how fast the alliance can coordinate. Italian F-35As at Ämari scrambled on a cold intercept while Finnish F/A-18s and Swedish Gripens shaped the battlespace, with Polish F-16s and German Eurofighters closing the box. Using passive sensors, secure datalinks, and disciplined tactics, NATO herded the Foxhounds away from Tallinn and escorted them toward Kaliningrad without firing a shot. In this breakdown we walk through the full intercept timeline: how the F-35’s DAS and AN/ASQ-239 built custody without emissions, how Link-16 fused everyone’s picture, why the MiG-31’s Zaslon-M favors altitude and speed, and how fuel state became the quiet decider. We’ll also cover the handoffs, the legal/rules-of-engagement nuances, and why these coordinated scrambles are the point of Baltic Air Policing. No hype, just a clean, technical look at sensors, geometry, and decision-making under pressure.

#nato
#russia
#beyondmilitary

Credits:
https://sites.google.com/ytmgl....td.com/challenged-na
The event on which the video is based:
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/new....s/estonia-releases-m