The RAF has scrambled fighter jets over Poland six times in one week to repel 15 Russian military aircraft operating close to NATO airspace.
The Typhoon FGR4 aircraft were based at the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork, Poland, and conducted the missions from June 7 to 12.
The six incidents mark the most intense period for the air force since being deployed in the region on April 1 as part of Operation Chessman, underlining an uptick in Russian intelligence-gathering operations in the Baltics.
As part of the UK’s commitment to NATO’s defence, it has moved both aircraft and personnel to the enhanced air policing mission, including the fourth-generation jet.
The first aerial showdown took place on June 7 when RAF pilots were sent to identify an aircraft departing the Kaliningrad region, later confirmed to be an Antonov An-30, a Soviet-era reconnaissance craft used to map terrain via aerial photography.
The two Typhoons that were then deployed to intercept were re-tasked to shadow another surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft, the Ilyushin Il-20M COOT A.
The fourth-generation UK fighter jets are kitted out with advanced radar, sensor fusion capabilities, and a wide suite of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions to assist with the interceptions.
But the following day, the RAF were again scrambled to intercept two unknown contacts, later identified as supersonic, all-weather tactical Su-24 bombers.
During this mission, the UK jets split up as one of the Su-24s conducted low-altitude flybys of a US Navy cargo ship operating in international waters as a show of provocation.
More reconnaissance planes were repelled in the following days, showing similar intelligence-gathering patterns near NATO airspace.
Elsewhere, a Tupolev Tu-142 BEAR F, a patrol aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare, was tracked being chaperoned by two Su-27 FLANKER B fighter jets.
Russia continues to provoke NATO personnel with these reconnaissance missions and close flybys with the defensive alliance set to perform its Atlantic Trident 25 air exercise, hosted by Finland.
The multinational drill will run from today (Monday) until June 27 and will be performed for the first time outside of either the United States, United Kingdom or France.
Coinciding with the exercise series, the US has deployed dozens of refuelling aircraft across the North Atlantic, towards Europe, with the volume of aircraft unlikely to correlate with the Atlantic Trident.
The aircraft set for Europe include KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46 Pegasus tankers. The mass migration could be related to continued bombing campaigns carried out by both Israel and Iran who continue to escalate tensions in the Middle East.