NATO jet scrambled in Lithuania after birds mistaken for drones

A NATO fighter jet took flight after a flock of birds was confused with drones, the Lithuanian authorities have reported.

There have been a number of incidents of Ukrainian UAVs crossing the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia or crashing in those countries as Kiev has intensified its long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia in recent months.

On Sunday, a perceived drone sighting caused the closure of Vilnius International Airport, the country’s National Crisis Management Center said in a statement later that day.

It was reopened within 40 minutes after a NATO jet, which had taken off from Siauliai airbase in the north of the country, found that the cause of the air alert was not a UAV, but a flock of birds, it said.

“On initial radar readings, marks left by birds and drones can be similar,” the statement read.

The Siauliai airbase hosts Italian air force Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, which had been deployed to Lithuania as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission.

Flying a Eurofighter Typhoon jet for a single hour reportedly costs around $65,000.

Last month, NATO said that its warplanes shot down a drone over Latvia, claiming that it entered the Baltic nation’s airspace “as a result of Russian electronic warfare activities.”

Russia has accused Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia of playing with fire by allowing their territory to be used for hostile activity. Russian officials have warned that if the Baltic nations knowingly help facilitate Ukrainian drone strikes, Moscow would consider them complicit in the attacks and would have the right to self-defense under the UN Charter.

The false alarm in Lithuania comes amid growing speculation about incidents involving alleged Russian drones across Europe. In July, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said that surveillance UAVs had been spotted on 144 occasions near key infrastructure facilities, airports and airbases in UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and other countries. However, none of the aircraft were ever captured, with Russian denying any involvement.

Earlier this month, the German government claimed it had grounds to believe that Russia was behind an incident in which an explosive-laden UAV was found between Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4. Berlin hasn’t provided any proof linking the drone to Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the German accusations, saying that they were being used to distract the public from domestic economic woes.

Moscow has said repeatedly that it harbors no aggressive designs against Europe, adding that a conflict with NATO is only possible if the Western bloc attacks Russia first or if its members deploy their forces to Ukraine.