NATO has scrambled fighter jets more than 400 times this year to intercept Russian military flights close to alliance members ' airspace in Europe , the alliance 's secretary general said this week . That 's a 50 % increase in Russian air activity over last year and the kind of activity that harkens back to the days of the Cold War , NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to NATO member Estonia on Thursday . `` This pattern is risky and unjustified . So NATO remains vigilant . We are here . And we are ready to defend all allies against any threat , '' he said at Amari Airbase in Estonia , where U.S. , German and Estonian troops were gathered . Stoltenberg said few of the Russian flights had actually violated the airspace of NATO nations , but he said the way the Russian planes operate threatens civilian aviation in the region . `` They are not filing their air flight plans . They are not turning on the transponders . And they are not communicating with the civilian air traffic control , '' he said . `` We are calling on Russia to conduct their military air activities in a responsible way and respecting international norms for this kind of air activity , '' Stoltenberg said . In a report earlier this month , the European Leadership Network listed more than 40 `` close military encounters between Russia and the West '' that took place in the eight months from March to October of this year . Three of those , including a near collision between a Russian military plane and a Swedish passenger aircraft carrying 132 people , were classified as `` high-risk '' incidents that could have led to direct military confrontation between Russia and the West , according to the report , titled `` Dangerous Brinksmanship . '' Russia also has said it will expand its military flights , with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu saying this month that Russian military aircraft would be flying along U.S. coasts and even into the Gulf of Mexico . `` We have to maintain ( Russia 's ) military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific , as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico , '' including sending bombers `` as part of the drills , '' Shoigu said . Stoltenberg , continuing his Baltic trip in NATO ally Lithuania on Friday , said the alliance is not standing idle as Russian activity increases . Visiting the Karmelava Airspace Control Center , he said NATO 's air policing mission in the region `` has been significantly strengthened in the recent months . '' `` And we have also deployed more ships in the Baltic Sea . And since the start of this year , NATO allies have conducted over 200 exercises , '' Stoltenberg said .
That 's a 20 % increase in Russian air activity over last year , secretary general says . Russian planes are not following air traffic control norms , Jens Stoltenberg says . ` ` This move is risky and unjustified , '' he says . Stoltenberg , who 's on a trip to the Baltics , says he is n't idle as Russian activity increases .