“Earlier today, Russian jets violated Estonian airspace. NATO responded immediately, and intercepted the Russian aircraft. This is yet another example of reckless, Russian behavior, and NATO’s ability to respond.” — Allison Hart, NATO spokesperson, September 19, 2025.
“Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen. Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure…clear proof of Russia’s growing aggression.” — Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, September 19, 2025.
On Friday, September 19, 2025, from 9:58 AM to 10:10 AM, three fully-armed, Russian MiG-31BM Foxhound jet fighters penetrated nearly six miles into the sovereign airspace of Estonia, a NATO alliance member, near Vaindloo Island, over the Gulf of Finland, initially flying directly toward the national capital of Tallinn, marking the fourth, Russian violation of Estonian airspace so far this year. The MiG-31s were each carrying three AA-9 Amos (R-33) long-range, air-to-air missles, with a maximum range of 189 miles.
The NATO alliance routinely conducts Baltic Air Policing missions under the auspices of Operation Baltic Sentry, over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, all NATO members with no fighter aircraft of their own. The MiG-31s had not filed flight plans with Estonian air authorities, their transponders were switched off, and they were not in radio communication with Estonian air traffic control.
Two Finnish F/A-18C Hornet jets intercepted the Russian fighters over the Gulf of Finland, and once inside Estonian airspace, Italian F-35A Lighting II stealth fighters took over and escorted the Russian aircraft out of Estonian airspace, toward the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.
As a direct result of this latest, “totally unacceptable,” intrusion, Estonia has requested NATO Article 4 consultations, stating that that any member nation may officially elevate an issue to the attention of the council, to and discuss the next steps when their territorial integrity, political independence, or security is threatened.
Baltic Air Policing (BAP) has been a NATO mission since March 2024, with NATO fighters from the various, member nations forward-deployed to Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, and Ämari Air Base, Estonia. Since July 28, 2025, the Italian Air Force has provided four F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters on air defense, quick-reaction alert (QRA) at Ämari, with eight Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons and four Hungarian JAS-39C Gripen (Swedish-made) jet fighters deployed to at Šiauliai.
The MiG-31 Foxhound is currently the world’s fastest fighter aircraft, with a top speed of Mach 2.83 (1,900 mph), an RP-31 Zaslon-M phased-array radar detection range of 200 miles, and the ability to carry AA-9 Amos air-to-air missiles, AA-11 Archer heat-seekers, AA-12 Adders with active-radar guidance, long-range, AA-13 Axeheads, AS-11 Kilter anti-radar missiles, AS-17 Krypton air-to-ground missiles, or the new, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (“Dagger,” or AS-24 Killjoy), 9,500-pound, hypersonic (Mach 10), ballistic attack missiles (air-launched variants of the SS-26 Stone missile, or Iskander-M) on some versions.
Interestingly, it also carries a GSh-6-23M six-barrel, 23x115mm Gatling gun capable of firing a staggering 167 rounds per second, loaded with 260 rounds of ammunition, but this unique weapon, the fastest-firing Gatling gun in the world, has proven highly problematic in the past, with premature shell detonation and other system failures, and is considered a short-range, backup weapon only, with a mere 1.55 seconds of firing time. Some reports state that the guns are fully operational, but that the aircraft are flying without ammunition.
These three particular Foxhound interceptors were likely from the 790th Fighter Aviation Regiment at Khotilovo/Borisovskiy Air Base, Russia, only 245 miles from the Estonian border at Narva. Their obvious purpose, aside from belligerent, military posturing and testing the limits of NATO defenses, was to determine which Baltic and Nordic radars would activate, and on which frequency bands, to deliberately test NATO quick-reaction alert response times, to probe for airborne, early-warning aircraft and their orbit patterns, and to monitor any changes in NATO radio traffic following other recent incursions by Russian forces.
This latest event came only 10 days after multiple, Russian, Gerbera drones penetrated Polish airspace, with over 21 drones entering eastern and central Poland, and more entering Romanian airspace on September 13th, both of which are NATO member nations.
The MiG-31 Foxhound is a long-range interceptor, with the tactical advantages of speed, a very powerful radar, and a variety of weapons loads, including long-range missiles, but it’s an older aircraft, and certainly not a close-in dogfighter.
Intercepting them over the Gulf of Finland were two Italian F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, an amazing, single-seat, single-engine, fifth-generation, multirole, combat aircraft, entering active, military service in July 2015.
The $78-million F-35 is so incredibly stealthy that U.S. Marine Corps pilot Major Dan Flately stated that, “I’ve seen guys in F-18s turn directly in front of me…because they have no idea I’m there…(in) the F-35…They want to…eliminate a threat they can’t handle. People are so hellbent on shooting down the stealth fighter that they invariably make mistakes that I can exploit.”
The F-35A has a top speed of Mach 1.6, but most aerial combats take place at subsonic airspeeds. The Lightning II is not intended to be a hard-turning dogfighter, although it typically carries two AIM-120C-8 or AIM-120D-3 “Slammer” radar-guided missiles internally, with a range of up to 97 miles, as well as a GAU-22/A 25mm electric Gatling gun, for self-defense against hostile fighters. During flight testing, the stealthy aircraft scored a kill ratio of 15-to-one against an F-16CM Fighting Falcon aggressor squadron in a high-threat environment.
The radar-evading F-35 is equipped with an APG-81 (or APG-85, from 2025 onward) active, electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar with passive and active modes for either air-to-air combat or ground-attack missions, simultaneously tracking multiple targets as far away as 80 nautical miles. This is supported by an AAQ-40 EOTS (Electro-Optical Tracking System), essentially a long-range, FLIR sensor for passive, thermal tracking of targets. The aircraft is equipped with fly-by-wire flight controls, a side-stick controller, like the F-16’s, a hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) system, and a Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat.
In addition, the F-35 pilot wears a $400,000, carbon-fiber, Rockwell Collins Gen. 3 helmet-mounted display system (HMDS), which interfaces with other aircraft systems to provide flight and combat information on the pilot’s visor, including infrared and night-vision imagery that allows the pilot to “see through” the aircraft body via a network of tiny cameras. This sophisticated, helmet system permits the pilot to simply turn his head in order to launch missiles off-boresight at hostile aircraft far off the fighter’s nose.
On the same day as the Estonian incursion, two Russian jet fighters executed a low, threatening pass over the PetroBaltic oil and gas platform in the located in the Polish exclusive economic zone of the Baltic Sea. In reply, Poland recently told the Russian Fedeation at the United Nations Security Council meeting that it should not “whine” if its aircraft or missiles are shot down over NATO territory, amid heightened tensions over these latest, air incursions.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal announced on September 19, 2025, that, “This morning, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace. NATO fighters responded, and the Russian planes were forced to flee. Such violation is totally unacceptable. The government of Estonia has decided to request NATO Article 4 consultations.” NATO’s Article 4 is the precursor to sweeping, Article 5 protections, stating that an attack against one member nation is an attack against the entire alliance, requiring all 32 member nations to respond with military force.
This recent, MiG-31BM Foxhound violation of Estonian airspace is a stunning example of Russian President Vladmir Putin “playing with fire” by recklessly poking the NATO alliance at a critical time in the Russia-Ukraine War, tipping the scale in NATO’s favor when President Donald Trump totally reversed course on his support for Ukraine on September 24, 2025.
For the very first time, Trump posted on Truth Social that, “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form…With…the financial support of…NATO…Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years…making them look like a ‘paper tiger’…Putin and Russia are in BIG economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
So, it’s abundantly clear that this Russian, MiG-31 provocation over Estonian airspace was very poorly timed, achieving the exact opposite of Russia’s aims, which actually strengthened NATO and U.S. resolve in the face of blatant, Russian aggression.