Rare Russian Strategic Airlifter Intercepted By Italian F-35s: NATO Maintains Chokehold Around Kaliningrad

A pair of Italian Air Force F-35 fighters forward deployed to Amari Air Base in Estonia were reported on August 28 to have intercepted one of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ small number of An-124 strategic transports, which are by far the largest transport aircraft fielded outside the United States. The 32nd and 6th Wings at Amari Air Base are currently operating as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, as the South European state has played a disproportionate role in bolstering Western Bloc air power both in Eastern Europe and in the Pacific. The interception highlights the sustained tensions surrounding the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is geographically surrounded by NATO territories placing any air, sea or land traffic between it and the Russian mainland at risk of being targeted by Western Bloc forces. The incident follows an encounter two weeks prior between an Italian F-35 and Russian Su-27 and Su-24M fighters in the region.

The An-124 is relied on to serve as a larger complement to the lighter but more widely used Il-76, and remains scarce due to the fact that the primarily Soviet facilities involved in its production were located in Ukraine. This prevented production from continuing after the USSR disintegrated. The Russian Aerospace Forces have responded to the shortage, and to the rapid wartime expansion of requirements for new strategic airlifters, by refurbishing older An-124s in storage and returning them to service. Outside the Russian Aerospace Forces, the An-124 is operated for civil purposes by the air carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines, with one of these aircraft lost on June 10, 2023 when it was appropriated by the Canadian government with questionable legality. The airliner had been chartered by the Canadian government and landed in Toronto on February 27, 2022, carrying rapid tests for Covid-19 from China, and after being seized it is expected to be delivered to Ukraine as Canadian aid. Although no similarly large strategic transport is in production anywhere in the world today, the Russian defence sector is reportedly currently developing a successor to the An-124.