Turkey Just Deployed F-16s to Russia’s Eastern Border as NATO Joint Expands Pressure

Turkish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters have completed a temporary deployment to Latvia to reinforce NATO air defence, highlighting the role of its large fighter fleet in strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. The aircraft were deployed alongside Eurofighters from German and Italy. Latvian Defence Minister Raivis Melnis visited the Turkish contingent at Lielvarde Air Base on October 9 to thank its personnel for their contribution. The number of Turkish aircraft involved and whether they were scrambled during their deployment were not disclosed. Photographs released during the minister’s visit identified the Turkish aircraft as belonging to the Turkish Air Force’s 181st Squadron. The deployment followed an earlier visit by Turkish F-16s to Lielvarde in August, when two aircraft arrived from Amari Air Base in Estonia as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania do not operate their own fighter fleets and have relied on NATO allies to police their airspace since joining the alliance in 2004. Allied aircraft normally operate from Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania and Amari Air Base in Estonia, rotating between participating countries. Temporary deployments to Latvia expand the geographical flexibility of this arrangement and help establish alternative operating locations in the event that the usual bases become unavailable or require additional support. The Turkish Air Force’s contribution carries particular significance because Turkish F-16s have previously been involved in direct military confrontations with Russian aircraft. The most serious of these on November 24, 2015 saw two Turkish F-16s shoot down a Russian Air Force Su-24M strike aircraft near the Turkish-Syrian border. 

Turkish F-16s were until December 2024 frequently deployed for strikes on Russian-aligned Syrian government forces, alongside F-16s from Israel, leading the Russian Aerospace Forces to respond on multiple occasions to respond by scrambling Su-35 air superiority fighters based in Syria to intercept them. As Syrian forces made advances in the country’s northwestern Idlib governate in the summer of 2019, leading Turkey to deploy F-16s on August 20 to cover the retreat of Turkish-backed Islamist militants, Su-35s were scrambled to intercept the aircraft and force them to leave Syrian airspace. Turkey nevertheless intervened more forcefully, and on October 15 a Turkish F-16 fighter intercepted a Russian Su-35 within Syrian airspace and prevented it from launching a strike on an insurgent headquarters in Manbij. From January the following year Turkish F-16s and drone units provided air support to militant groups after they lost considerable ground near Idlib, and while Russian air strikes during the subsequent clashes caused dozens of Turkish military casualties.