NATO seeks early F-16 deployment from Türkiye to guard Baltic airspace

According to sources, Türkiye had already planned to station its fighter aircraft in Romania from December 2026 to March 2027.

Now, however, NATO wants the patrols to take place in Estonia from August to December 2026. Sources say this request is linked to strengthening the Alliance’s defenses following Russian violations of the airspace of NATO member states.

Ankara has not yet decided how it will respond to the request. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Turkish fighter jets last carried out patrols as part of such a mission in early 2025.

Bloomberg also notes that the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans to host the next NATO summit in July.

The outlet further recalls that in December, a Turkish F-16 shot down a drone over the Black Sea as it was approaching Turkish airspace. A few days later, a crashed drone, believed to be of Russian origin, was discovered in the northwest of the country.

Russia encroaching on NATO

In 2025, Russia repeatedly violated the airspace of NATO member states.

In particular, on September 19, Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Russian MiG-31K fighter jets, capable of carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, violated the country’s airspace. According to Politico, three aircraft were involved and remained over Estonia for 12 minutes.

In addition, on September 8, the Estonian military reported that a Russian Mi-8 helicopter had breached the country’s airspace. The incident occurred near Vaindloo Island.

On the night of September 10, Russia once again carried out a combined attack on Ukraine. That same night, Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting Poland to scramble fighter jets and, for the first time, shoot down drones over its territory. This was far from an isolated incident, as on September 13, a Russian drone was also detected in Romania.

Footage also circulated online showing that air raid alerts were issued in both Poland and Romania.