 "Three Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter planes escort a B-52H Stratofortress in a 2022 flight. (Representative Photo, Credit: US Air Force)")
Amid questions about Nato being overly cautious in responding to Russian aerial incursions , Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the alliance’s response rests on the escalation ladder and there must be no doubt that Nato forces will shoot down Russian aircraft if they pose a threat during any incursion.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Rutte said that as the first step, fighter planes are scrambled and, if intruding aircraft don’t pose a threat, they are escorted out of the airspace, but he further said that instructions to shoot down intruding aircraft are clear if they pose a threat.
“Our military, our military commanders, our fighter jets, pilots, they can do what is necessary to keep our people safe. If it is, if there is no direct threats, they will escort these planes out of allied airspace. If there is a direct threat, they might ultimately do the ultimate thing,” said Rutte.
When Amanpour specifically asked if that meant shooting down Russian aircraft, Rutte said, “Yeah, if necessary.”
The remarks came as Sweden reported at least three drone sightings on Thursday — one of them near the country’s largest naval base. The sightings in Sweden followed multiple drone sightings in Denmark and Norway this week that shut down airports in their capitals for several hours. In recent weeks, Poland, Romania, and Estonia have reported Russian aerial incursions involving planes and drones.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen blamed Russia after the first round of drone sightings and called it the “most serious attack so far against Danish critical infrastructure”. In the most serious incursion, Poland said it joined Nato allies to shoot down Russian drones that entered its airspace on the night of September 9.
Nato has demonstrated ability to shoot down Russian aircraft: Rutte
Rutte further said that it’s not as if Nato is against shootdowns and pointed to the fact that Dutch F-35s had joined Polish forces to take down Russian drones on Sept. 9.
“What needs is a calm and collective reaction by Nato and that’s exactly what we do. We have the best military in the world. We are the strongest military alliance in world history. And what happened with the drone incursions? The Dutch F-35s taking them down,” said Rutte.
ALSO READ: Nato countries should shoot down Russian aircraft breaching their airspace, says Trump
Separately, Bloomberg News has reported that European nations have told Russia that they would respond forcefully, including shooting down Russian piloted aircraft, in case of further incursions.
At a meeting with Russian officials in Moscow, British, French, and German ambassadors told Kremlin that their countries would shoot down Russian aircraft in case of further incursions, according to the report.
Rutte admits Nato’s limitations
Even as Rutte said that Nato countries will shoot down Russian aircraft when required, he also admitted limitations of the alliance. He said that the cost-benefit analysis is not in favour of Nato at the moment. But he said the bloc is working to address them.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg News Editor in Chief John Micklethwait, Rutte said that Russia has been harassing them with dirt-cheap drones, and the current means of Nato make shooting down of every drone very difficult.
“It is not sustainable that you would take down $1,000- or $2,000-costing drones with missiles that cost you maybe half a million or a million dollars. All of us are rapidly developing the technologies and learning from Ukrainians,” said Rutte.
In the short term, Rutte admitted that Nato lacked the adequate equipment, but he said appropriate means to tackle drones, based on the learnings from the war in Ukraine, would be rolled out in the coming weeks.