Turkey has temporarily sent an advanced radar surveillance aircraft to Lithuania as NATO steps up efforts to counter repeated Russian airspace violations in the Baltic region, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Turkish defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deployment has not been publicly announced, told the outlet that an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) jet arrived in Lithuania on Monday. The mission, expected to run until Thursday, is part of NATO’s collective defense measures.
The aircraft is designed to track low-flying drones and other objects that may evade ground-based radar systems. NATO members, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have expressed growing concern as Russian jets, helicopters and transport planes have increasingly crossed their airspace.
Military analysts say the incursions are meant to project Moscow’s disregard for NATO borders and, in the case of the Baltic states that were once part of the Soviet Union, to challenge their sovereignty.
Such violations have become more frequent since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Turkish Defense Ministry declined to comment on the mission.