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NATO scrambles over Baltic
In the morning of August 11, two Italian F-35 fighters from the Task Force Air – 32nd Wing, deployed to the Estonian air base at Ämari, were activated for a scramble while still airborne by an immediate order from the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Uedem (Germany).
“In the morning of August 11, two Italian F-35 fighters of the Task Force Air – 32nd Wing, deployed to the Estonian air base at Ämari, already engaged in a training mission, were activated for a scramble, while still airborne, by an immediate order from the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Uedem (Germany)”
The activation of the two Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) assets became necessary following an unidentified track in international airspace in the Baltic region under NATO responsibility, as NATO Air Policing is described as a peace mission aimed at preserving the Alliance's airspace security.
Ahead of the NATO summit, Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged that NATO must unite air defense capacities for Ukraine to defeat Russia, according to CBS News.
A CNN interview ahead of the summit also framed the challenge as a Russia threat, with Michael Kofman saying NATO is not well-adapted yet to the air and missile defense challenge posed by Russia.
Zelenskyy presses for Patriot
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies Tuesday to make helping with air defense one of the key outcomes of NATO’s Ankara summit, warning that Ukraine still lacks the means to stop Russian ballistic missiles.
“Please help us get more air defense missiles. This is our top priority right now,” Zelenskyy told the NATO Defense Industry Forum, while saying Ukraine had discussed Patriot production licenses with Washington.
The Politico.eu account also quoted Zelenskyy saying, “This is Russia’s last major advantage,” as he argued Europe needs affordable, mass-produced, anti-ballistic systems “today, not years from now.”
In a separate framing of the same summit, Newsweek reported that Zelenskyy asked NATO leaders, “Do you really believe it would be right to leave outside NATO, a country and a people with this level of defensive capability?”
Border defenses and consequences
NATO plans to strengthen defenses at the border with Russia over the next two years by creating an 'automated zone' manned with virtually no soldiers, Brigadier General Thomas Lowin said to Welt am Sonntag.
“Ahead of the NATO summit, Bianna Golodryga speaks to Michael Kofman, a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about whether the alliance is prepared for a potential Russia threat after Ukraine”
Lowin described a 'hot zone' where sensors would detect enemy forces and activate defense systems including drones and automatic air and missile defense devices, and said the sensors are expected to cover an area of several thousand kilometers.
In Ukraine, a deadly overnight attack on the eve of the NATO summit killed eleven people and injured 60 in strikes on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, while Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said three others were killed in the surrounding capital region.
Ukraine’s Air Force tally published on Telegram said it didn't shoot down any of the 23 Iskander-M ballistic missiles or the six high-speed Zircon and Oniks missiles launched by Russia, and Zelenskyy said, “As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies' stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep 'vanquishing' residential buildings.”
