NATO intercepts not so "transparent"
On 12 October 2020, Scramble Magazine wrote about Luftwaffe (GAF, German Air Force) aircraft intercepting Russian aircraft while conducting missions for the Baltic Air Policing (BAP).
Having recently joined the Twitter community, NATO Air Command displayed some nice and awkward footages of Russian aircraft while being intercepted by NATO BAP aircraft. Scramble Magazine has now learned that NATO Air Command published altered photos making the Russian aircraft's RF registrations unrecognisable before they were posted on Twitter.
Assessed as having no intelligence value, photos of Russian Federation - Aerospace Forces (RF VKS) Beriev A-50U RF-94268 (construction number 0083483499) with Bort Number 41 red, named 'Taganrog' and Russian Navy Sukhoi Su-27P RF-33734 (c/n 36911027920) with Bort Number 99 red, named 'Ekaterinburg' were edited beyond recognition.
Since March 2004, the BAP mission is a NATO air defence Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) in order to guard the airspace over the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Hopefully, when published, no more BAP photos will be altered in the future.
More information about individual military aircraft can be found at our website under military database.
Photos by NATO Air Command