Enhanced air policing mission
Since 2014, NATO nations have been working with the Romanian Air Force to support
deterrence and defence measures in the southeast of the allied territory. It is the
first time that Spanish aircraft join the Romanian fighter jets.
Nederlands
Belgium
France
RAMSTEIN
• 6 Eurofighter
• F-16 and Mig-21
• COMMAND AND CONTROL
Led by the Allied Air Command
(AIRCOM), in Ramstein,
the operational control is the
responsability of the Combined
Air Operations Centre
(CAOC) at Torrejón.
,
TORREJÓN Air base
DE ARDOZ
NATO member states
to scramble and intercept the unknown
aircraft. Once the allied aircraft receive
the signal, they take to the air within
minutes to establish visual contact
with the intruder. If necessary, they
can escort them to a nearby airfield for
landing or even out of Alliance airspace.
ENHANCED SECURITY
When Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,
which do not have combat aircraft,
joined NATO in 2004, the Allies
enhanced their air surveillance
capability in the three Baltic states. In
2014, following Russia’s annexation
of the Crimean peninsula, NATO
decided to step up surveillance as a
deterrent. Thus, a second air policing
presence was established in the Baltic
(at Amari Air Base, Estonia). At
the same time, in the south, NATO
agreed to temporarily enhance the air
policing capabilities of Romania and
Bulgaria by supplementing them with
Germany
The
Czech Republic
Slovenia
I t a ly
Poland
Slovakia
Hungary
Albania
Greece
Croatia
Romania
Bulgaria
detachments from allied states. It is
within the framework of this mission
that Spanish Eurofighters have begun
to operate with the Romanian air
force, which has F-16AM/BM aircraft
purchased second-hand from Portugal
to replace its aging Mig-21s. Previously,
the US, Italy, Portugal and the UK
conducted temporary deployments in
Constanța, and so did Canada in the last
quarter of last year.
The Paznic
detachment will
remain deployed
at the Romanian
air base for two
months
Moldova Ukraine
Russia
B l a c k S e a
Turkey
CONSTANTA
Mihail
Kogalniceanu
Rafael Navarro / Revista Española de Defensa / Source: NATO AIRCOM
SOLIDARITY
NATO provides air-policing coverage
for other Allies in the southern flank
who do not have fighter jets of their
own. In the Western Balkans region,
airspace surveillance in Albania
and Montenegro is carried out by
Italy’s Eurofighters and Greece’s F-16s,
while Hungary’s Gripens and Italy’s
Eurofighters protect the skies over
Slovenia, all under the command of
CAOC Torrejón.
Extending air policing coverage
to North Macedonia is also being
considered.
Furthermore, allies also help to police
the skies of Iceland with the regular
presence of NATO fighter aircraft at
Keflavik air station and, since 2017,
there has been a special arrangement
for the coverage of Luxembourg’s
airspace with fighter jets from Belgium
and The Netherlands.
Victor Hernandez
April 2021 Revista Española de Defensa 35