All of the Russian aeroplanes were operating over the Baltic without prior submission of the flight plans to the air traffic controllers, which was the main cause for the scramble. As it is stressed by the RAF representatives, the decision to check the “suspicious aircraft” was made by the Estonian airspace controllers.

During a single sortie of the Eurofighter Typhoons that are currently stationed at the Amari base, an Il-20M Coot-A reconnaissance aircraft was identified, operating close to the Baltic states. Next, the fighters investigated the second radar signal – An-26 Curl flying from the Kaliningrad Oblast. Both intruders were photographed and the photos were published.

Another incident involved a single example of the Su-27 Flanker fighter which was intercepted by the Norwegian F-16 Falcons that are involved in the current rotation of the Baltic Air Policing operation, together with the British Air Policing component.