Two Typhoon jets flying in formation. AP/Donato Fasano NATO's Baltic air-policing mission is busy these days.

According to the Latvian military, on Oct. 28 German Air Force Eurofighter jets on Quick Reaction Alert at Šiauliai, Lithuania, were scrambled to intercept seven Russian Air Force planes flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

The German interceptors identified the Russian jet as a large package consisting of attack planes and escort, which included two MiG-31 Foxhounds, two Su-34 Fullbacks, one Su-27 Flanker, and two Su-24 Fencer jets.

Regardless of whether the Russian aircraft were involved in one of the frequent training missions in the Baltics or were traveling to or from the Russian airfield in the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea, the package on Oct. 28 represents one of the largest “formations” intercepted by NATO fighter planes within the past couple of years.

Usually, close encounters involve Russian, Swedish, or US spy planes being intercepted before or just after violating sovereign airspace. Sometimes, scrambles are required to greet Moscow’s Tu-22 or Tu-95 bombers on long-range training patrols or strike packages involved in (alleged) simulated airstrikes on one of a northern European state (usually, Sweden).

In any case, Russian Air Force missions in the Baltic area have surged to such an extent that the NATO presence has quadrupled in the last year: from one nation providing four aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert at one base in Lithuania, to four nations (currently Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Canada) at two air bases.