TrueValueMetrics ... Impact Accounting for the 21st Century

Date: 2026-03-03 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00029263

RUSSIA POWERFUL NATO COOPERATION Beyond Military: Russia Challenged NATO Jet — Big Mistake PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXaQQ3slN9I
Russia Challenged NATO Jet — Big Mistake Beyond Military Dec 3, 2025 444K subscribers ... 448,186 views ... 7.6K likes #beyondmilitary #nato #russia A trio of Russian MiG-31 Foxhounds crossed into Estonian airspace near Vaindloo Island, forcing NATO to prove how fast the alliance can coordinate. Italian F-35As at Ämari scrambled on a cold intercept while Finnish F/A-18s and Swedish Gripens shaped the battlespace, with Polish F-16s and German Eurofighters closing the box. Using passive sensors, secure datalinks, and disciplined tactics, NATO herded the Foxhounds away from Tallinn and escorted them toward Kaliningrad without firing a shot. In this breakdown we walk through the full intercept timeline: how the F-35’s DAS and AN/ASQ-239 built custody without emissions, how Link-16 fused everyone’s picture, why the MiG-31’s Zaslon-M favors altitude and speed, and how fuel state became the quiet decider. We’ll also cover the handoffs, the legal/rules-of-engagement nuances, and why these coordinated scrambles are the point of Baltic Air Policing. No hype, just a clean, technical look at sensors, geometry, and decision-making under pressure. #nato #russia #beyondmilitary Credits: https://sites.google.com/ytmgltd.com/... The event on which the video is based: https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/eston... Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Very impressive NATO multinational coordination against a Russian intrusion! Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 At 0900 hours on September 19th, Estonian radar operators were tracking routine Baltic traffic when their screens lit up with something that would make this anything but a routine morning. Three Russian MiG 31s turned south and crossed into Estonian airspace near Vandaloo Island. Transponders off, radio silent. Unknown to the Russians, they'd already been tracked since takeoff from Petrovos. The MiGs penetrated 10 km into Estonian airspace, maintaining 30,000 ft where their Zazzlon M radar worked best. Believe Mig pilot could see Tin through his canopy. 400,000 Estonians starting their morning. Completely unaware that three aircraft worth half a billion rubles were testing whether NATO's Article 5 was real or just paper promises. The Russians started circling, probably waiting for Estonian fighters to scramble so they could claim they were intercepted aggressively for propaganda videos. They had no idea two 1:00 Italian F-35s as part of the standing NATO squadron in Estonia were already hunting them. The Italian pilots didn't even turn on their radar. Their distributed aperture system, you see here, six infrared cameras providing 360 degree coverage, had already found the MIG's twin Soliv engines burning at,200° C through their $400,000 helmets. The Italian pilots could literally look through the F-35's floor and see the Russians above, tracking them by heat while remaining completely invisible. The F-35's radar cross-section is 0.005 005 m, about the size of a golf ball. The MiG 31's radar, designed to find B-52s the size of warehouses, was trying to spot something smaller than a seagull that happened to cost $80 million. Meanwhile, NATO's integrated air defense system was already coordinating the trap. Finnish F-18s pushed from the east, deliberately staying visible on 2:00 Russian radar to herd them west. Swedish grippins waited silently over the Baltic, radars off, getting position updates through link 16 data link, 128 time slots per second, creating one unified picture across all NATO forces. The Estonian controllers vetored everyone without saying a word over radio. It was a digital hive mine versus three Russians using encrypted UHF voice commands like it was still the Cold War. The Italian F-35s climbed through 25,000 ft using what they call cold intercept, passive sensors only, no emissions. Their ANSQ239 Barracuda electronic warfare system was tracking the MiGs by their own radar emissions. Every time that Sazzlon M swept past, it told the F-35s exactly where the Russians were, what mode they were in, even which direction they were looking. The MiG pilots kept checking their 6:00 position. That instinctive over-the-shoulder glance fighter pilots 3:00 have done since World War I. At 0912, the lead Italian pilot finally made radio contact on Guard Frequency, the International Emergency Channel. Russian aircraft, you are in NATO airspace. Turn east immediately. The MiG pilot deflected by saying, 'We are currently on a scheduled flight.' Proving he heard and understood, but kept flying. In Russian military culture, following NATO instructions would mean admitting violation. So they kept circling, pretending they owned Estonian airspace while their SPO15 threat receivers started beeping more than a McDonald's kitchen. Those receivers could tell something was out there, but not what or where. Random electronic noise that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. The Italian pilots settled into the MiG's blind spots directly above where their mechanical radar couldn't see without the Russians rolling their entire aircraft. Two F-35s tracking three MiGs who didn't even know they were being hunted. The technological gap 4:02 wasn't measured in years, but in decades. Time to show these Soviet relics what happens when you test NATO with equipment that was advanced back when VHS tapes were cutting edge. The lead MIG pilot tried the oldest trick in the fighter pilot handbook, a sudden dive to low altitude, attempting to hide in surface clutter where radar returns bounce off waves and confuse targeting computers. The Italian F-35 pilot didn't even change altitude. His ANAPG81 radar uses Doppler processing that can separate a 500 knot fighter from 20 knots seagulls by velocity alone. The MiG was burning fuel in a useless descent while the F-35's computer adjusted the firing solution in real time, following him down like a patient predator. Realizing the dive wasn't working, the Russian pulled up hard. Twin engines in full afterburner climbing for 40,000 ft where the MiG 31 was designed to excel. At that altitude, 5:01 thinner air means less drag and the Foxhound could theoretically hit Mach 2.83, and A3, fast enough to outrun any NATO fighter. Except speed doesn't help when your hunter is invisible and your engines are screaming your position to every infrared sensor within 200 km. The F-35's distributed aperture system watch the MiGs climb, their engines glowing even brighter against the cold stratosphere like a giant neon sign saying, 'We're right here.' Inside the MIG cockpits, confusion was turning to concern. Their threat receivers were having seizures, random chirps, and warnings that made no sense. The Italian F-35s were using their ALQ239 Barracuda electronic warfare suite to inject false targets into the Russian radar. One moment showing 12 contacts, then four, then none, then 20. The Barracuda is able to do this by recording the incoming radar pulse and then transmitting it back with slight delays 6:00 and frequency shifts that make it appear like multiple aircraft at different ranges and speeds. Essentially creating ghost copies of itself that look completely real to the radar. That's when the Swedish Griffins announced themselves. They've been lurking 80 km away, radars cold, getting targeting data fed from F-35s through link 16. When they suddenly lit up their pulse doppler radars at maximum power, the MiG's threat receivers went from confused chirping to full panic. Two new contacts bearing 180, closing fast. The Russians had thought they were dealing with two invisible Italians. Now Swedes were boxing them in from the south. Finn still pushing from the east. And those Italian F-35s were somewhere but nowhere. The tactical situation had become what NATO calls a honey trap. Visible threats forcing you toward invisible ones. The Grippins went loud specifically to push the MiGs north where the F-35s were waiting. Sweden had joined NATO basically 5 minutes ago. And 7:00 here they were executing complex coordination like they'd been doing it for decades. The Swedish pilots could see everything the Italians saw. target speed, altitude, heading, even fuel state calculated by flight time and maneuvering. When one pilot saw something, they all saw it instantly, automatically. The Russians were still using voice commands, basically playing telephone at 30,000 ft, while NATO operated like a single organism with multiple sets of eyes. The lead MIG tried to break west toward the Baltic, probably hoping to make international airspace where NATO couldn't legally engage. The F-35s cut him off without ever appearing on radar. One Italian pilot illuminating him with targeting radar for exactly 1 second, just enough to make his threat receiver scream, then going dark. Before the Russian could react, the other F-35 did the same from a completely different angle. Left, right, above, below. The warnings came 8:00 from everywhere. The MiG started defensive turns, yanking and banking like their lives depended on it, which technically they did. The second MiG pilot decided to try electronic warfare, activating his L203B Gardinia jamming pod against the F-35's frequency hopping ASA radar that changed frequencies a thousand times per second across multiple bands simultaneously. It was like trying to silence an irate Karen by whispering. The Italian pilots probably didn't even notice. Their systems automatically switched to different frequencies faster than human thought, maintaining their lock while the Russian jammer screamed uselessly into the electromagnetic spectrum. Making matters worse for the Russians was the entire NATO air defense network was now waking up. Polish F-16s were already airborne from Malbourne. German Typhoons were launching from Lake. NATO's air command and control system was automatically vectoring them toward the same airspace without anyone requesting backup. The 9:02 system pulls radar data from every sensor in the alliance, creates one common operating picture, then tells each aircraft exactly where to fly for maximum effect. The MIG pilots had no idea they were about to be surrounded by half of NATO's air force. They probably still thought this was just about Estonia. Instead, they triggered a response from Stockholm to Rome. Everyone eager to remind Russia why the Baltic Sea was NATO's lake. The lead MIG pilot made one last attempt at aggression, turning toward Tin like he was going to overfly the capital. The moment his nose pointed at Estonia's largest city, alarms went off in NATO command centers. An armed Russian fighter heading toward 400,000 civilians changed this from provocation to potential article 5. The F-35s moved to intercept, but not how the Russians expected. Instead of blocking their path directly, the Italian pilots started what fighter pilots call hurting, using 10:01 the MiG's own fear against them. One F-35 would spike them with radar from the left, forcing them to break right. The moment they turned, the other F-35 would spike from below, forcing them to climb. Each defensive reaction pushed them further from Tin and closer to the engagement box that Polish F-16s and German Typhoons were forming to the west. The Russians were being moved like chess pieces by an opponent they couldn't even see. The MiG's fuel situation was becoming critical. They'd been yanking and banking for 15 minutes. Each defensive turn burning fuel they couldn't spare. Tinenrad was 400 m away. At their current consumption rate, they had maybe 18 minutes before transforming from an aircraft to a submarine. The smart move would be requesting a vector to the nearest airfield, maybe Turku in Finland or even back to Estonia. But that would mean admitting defeat, asking NATO for help after violating their airspace. In Russian military culture, 11:00 there was nothing worse. So they kept maneuvering, kept burning fuel, kept pretending they were in control while their options evaporated like jet fuel in an afterburner. That's when the Polish F-16s arrived from the west and they came in aggressive. Their radars locked onto the MiGs immediately. Not subtle, not polite, just pure electromagnetic hostility. The F-16's APG68 radars might be older than the F-35 systems, but they were more than enough to paint three exhausted MiGs running low on fuel. This wasn't just an intercept. It was historical payback delivered at 30,000 ft. German Typhoons swept in from the south. Their Captor Eraars representing the best of European engineering. These weren't stealth fighters like the F-35s, but they didn't need to be. The Typhoon was built for one thing. Air superiority through overwhelming performance. Twin Euroget engines producing 40,000 pounds 12:01 of thrust. Super cruise capability without afterburner and a radar that could track a tennis ball at 100 km. The Germans took position above the MiGs, the ultimate high ground in air combat. If this went kinetic, the Russians would be caught between poles looking for revenge and Germans with precision weapons. Not a good place to be. The MiGs were now surrounded by 10 NATO fighters from five nations. Italian F-35s they couldn't see, Swedish Grippins from the south, Polish F-16s from the west, German Typhoons from above, and Finnish F-18s still pushing from the east. Every escape route led into someone's weapons envelope. Meanwhile, Danish F-16s from Scridstrip reported airborne. Norwegians were spinning up. Even the Dutch were asking if they needed help. NATO was responding like someone had kicked over an anthill. Fighters launching from every base within 500 miles. All converging on 13:00 three Russian jets who were rapidly running out of fuel, options, and dignity. The MiG pilots were realizing fast. This fight was turning into an all you can eat Russian buffet. And they were the fresh tray of crab legs. The lead F-35 pilot was done playing. He switched his radar from search to single target track, painting the leave MIG with enough electromagnetic energy to cook a turkey at 30 km. Inside the Russian cockpit, the threat warning system went from concerned chirping to the continuous tone every fighter pilot has nightmares about. It's the sound that means an advanced radar has locked you up, calculated your exact position, velocity, and acceleration, and is feeding that data to missiles that fly at Mach 4. The Italian held the lock for exactly 5 seconds, long enough for the Russian pilot to contemplate his life choices, not long enough to legally justify pulling the trigger. Through his helmet display, the F-35 pilot could see 14:00 the firing solution updated 50 times per second. A dotted line showed the A120D's calculated flight path. Impact point marked with a red X where the MIG's cockpit currently existed. Probability of hit 97%. Remaining 3% was a rounding error. The AI 120D AM RAM is what fighter pilots call a mad dog. Once it goes active, it doesn't care about chaff, flares, or prayers. It has its own radar in the nose that activates in the terminal phase. hunting targets autonomously. Even if the MiG pilot deployed every counter measure in his arsenal, and Soviet doctrine loved countermeasures, the missile would analyze each one, determine it wasn't an 81,000lb aircraft, and continue hunting. Modern missiles don't get confused, they get focused like a tracking dog that flies at Mach 4 and explodes. The Russian pilot's hands were shaking as he processed his options. His SPO15 threat 15:01 receiver was showing multiple lock indications. Not just F-35, but now Polish F-16s and German Typhoons had joined the electromagnetic party. Every direction showed threats. Every frequency showed jamming. Every option led to destruction. Soviet training said to be aggressive, but Soviet training assumed you could see your enemy. Finally, mercifully, the lead MIG pilot broke radio silence on guard frequency. Returning to base, the other two MiGs immediately banked west towards Kalinenrad. But NATO wasn't done teaching lessons. As the MiGs turned toward Kinenrad, Swedish Grippins took escort position 500 m off their right wing, close enough to count rivets, far enough to avoid collision if the Russians tried something stupid. The Swedish Raphael Lightning targeting pods started recording in 1080p, capturing every detail of the MiG's configuration. Weapons load out, electronic warfare 16:00 pods, even tail numbers that would tell intelligence analysts which units Putin was using for provocations. Every frame would be studied, cataloged, and filed under what not to do in NATO airspace. At the Polish border, F-16s took over escort duty with the enthusiasm of kids who just got permission to stay up late. The Polish pilots maintained missile lock continuously. Not enough to justify engagement, just enough to keep that warning tone singing in the Russian headsets for the entire 400-mile flight home. It's called aggressive escort in official reports and trolling everywhere else. Link 16 data link made the handoff seamless between nations. Swedish computers talked to Polish computers at 57 kilobits per second, sharing everything from target position to fuel state estimates. German typhoons took high cover, ready to respond if the Russians tried anything desperate. Danish F-16s established a barrier cap to the north, making sure that the MiGs 17:02 didn't try to violate Swedish airspace on their way home. It was international cooperation at its finest. Everybody working together to humiliate Russia. The MIG's fuel situation was now critical. The lead aircraft showed 2,000 lb, enough for maybe 30 minutes at their current consumption. Tinenrad was still 200 m away. If they had to go around, weather or deviate for traffic, they'd be swimming. The Russian pilots had to reduce speed to maximum range crews, 420 knots, engines barely above idle, flying like airliners instead of interceptors. The Polish F-16s had to keep hitting their speed brakes to stay in formation. As they approached Kinenrad, Russian SU27s scrambled to meet them, probably expecting to escort wounded heroes from glorious mission. Instead, they found three MiG 31s being shephered by half of NATO like delinquents being walked to the principal's office. The SU27 pilots 18:02 probably had questions. Why were Polish F-16s so close? Why were the MiGs flying so slowly? Why did the pilots look like they'd seen ghosts? The answers would come later in debriefs that nobody wanted to give. The Italian F-35 pilots watched the MiGs disappear into Kinenrad airspace, then turned west toward home. They'd been airborne for 2 hours, had plenty of fuel remaining, and hadn't even turned on their radars until the very end. The technological superiority was so complete it was almost unfair. This encounter shows the Baltic remains NATO territory and Russia just proved they can't even visit without permission, supervision, and an escort home. Bye for now.

SITE COUNT