"Russian fighter jets have been spotted with their transponders off over the Baltic sea", according to responsible news outlets. Yes, that's because NATO doesn't want to turn its own transponders on.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
Like the ongoing reporting on Russia's never-ending invasion of Ukraine, every few weeks the media rolls out the same, predictable garbage about Russian military aircraft flying too close to NATO airspace — often with their transponders turned off.
As Newsweek tells it, last week NATO jets intercepted a "skein of Russian combat aircraft [skein? wow, move over Shakespeare] flying alongside Russian bomber planes above the Baltic Sea."
This is very noteworthy and troubling because it clearly illustrates Putin's insatiable appetite for new territories. Now that Crimea has re-joined Russia, "the Kremlin may harbor similar designs for [Baltic] lands." According to Newsweek, at least. And who among is prepared to challenge that airtight logic?
Here's where things get real freaky:
NATO jets scrambled to escort a similar formation both times—an Il-22 bomber, tailed by two Su-27 fighters. The flights appeared to be a round trip from mainland Russia to its enclave of Kaliningrad and back. In both cases only the Il-22 had its transponder on. Only one of the flights, the second one, followed a submitted flight plan, which only detailed the movement of one of the three planes.
Russian, so called, patrol flights, involving unannounced forays around and towards European airspace with transponders off, have increased since 2014. The Baltic Sea connection between Russia’s mainland and the Kaliningrad enclave is particularly tense as it passes abeam of allied airspace constantly.
Near misses between such Russian jets and other aircraft, including passenger liners, have prompted concern in Europe that such a foray could result in an inadvertent crash. However, in 2015 Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu said Moscow plans to continue and expand what they viewed as “regular practice.”
Horrible. How could the Russians be so careless and provocative? How do these monsters sleep at night?
The Russians probably sleep pretty well, actually, knowing that they proposed that Russian and NATO aircraft should keep their transponders on at all times while flying in the Baltic region — an offer that was immediately turned down by NATO:
The moral of this story is: Every time you read Newsweek, a kitten is murdered.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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