dexter
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Belgian jets assigned to a NATO Baltic Air Policing mission intercepted Russian fighter jets while making low passes over a US Navy destroyer. Belgian F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-purpose fighter jets launched from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, where the air policing mission is based. They then intercepted a Russian aircraft - two Su-24 Fencer attack jets, a Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighter, and a Su-30 Flanker-C multirole fighter - over the USS Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer maneuvering in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Lithuania.
The F-16s performed a safe and professional intercept. Air policing is a peacetime activity conducted 365 days a year on Alliance territory. Interceptions can be triggered when air traffic - civil or military - does not respond to the cries of air passengers. Images include GoPro and helmet shots of Russian jets flying over the USS Donald Cook.
