In response to the Russian drone invasion in the Polish town of Malbork in September, the German air force announced on 4th December that it has sent five German Eurofighter jets and up to 150 military personnel to the town to assist in securing the Polish airspace.

In mid-September, F-16 fighter jets of Poland, the Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS surveillance aircraft, and NATO mid-air refuelling aircraft scrambled during an operation to intercept drones that had entered Polish airspace.

This was the first instance in which a member of the Western military alliance was reported to have fired shots in the war in Ukraine by Russia.

Moscow did not accept the blame for the incident.

As of March 2021, the German ‌Eurofighters are stationed as part of the NATO Eastern Sentry mission and will stay in Malbork, some 60 kilometres away in Gdansk, and 80 kilometres away in the heavily armed Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, until March 2026, according to the Luftwaffe.

“In this operation, we are also sending another powerful signal of support to our neighbour Poland and NATO”, in general, German Air Chief Holger Neumann stated.

Germany has also sent Eurofighter jets to Romania as part of NATO, which tries to strengthen the eastern wing of the alliance in times when tensions with Russia escalate.