Baltic Air Policing

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Baltic Air Policing
Two French Mirage 2000s during a Baltic Air Policing deployment in 2010
Two French Mirage 2000s during a Baltic Air Policing deployment in 2010
Date 30 March 2004 - present
Location Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Result Ongoing

The Baltic air-policing mission is a NATO air defence Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) in order to guard the airspace over the three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Contents

[edit] Mission

The three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Within the Alliance, preserving airspace integrity is conducted as a collective task jointly and collectively using fighter aircraft for Air Policing. Air Policing is a purely defensive mission. It did not take the events of September 11, 2001 to make the public aware of the fundamental importance of Air Policing and the requirement to have air defence assets available at short notice ensuring safety and security of national and NATO airspace. Since the 1970s, NATO has established a comprehensive system of air surveillance and airspace management means, as well as Quick Reaction Alert assets for intercepts (QRA(I)) provided by its member nations. By means of radar sites, remote data transmission, control and reporting centres (CRCs) and Combined Air Operation Centres (CAOCs) the Alliance ensures constant surveillance and control if its assigned airspace 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. NATO exploits these facilities to react within seconds to air traffic incidents in the Allies’ airspace. This structure of weapon systems, control centres and procedures is referred to as the NATO Integrated Air Defence System (NATINADS). NATINADS has been and remains one cornerstone of Alliance solidarity and cohesion. The responsible Allied Air Headquarters are at Izmir,Turkey and Ramstein, Germany. The dividing line are the Alps. The Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein’s air area of responsibility is divided in two Air Policing Areas (APAs):

  • APA 1 is controlled by the Combined Air Operation Centre (CAOC) Finderup, Denmark;
  • APA 2 is controlled by the CAOC in Uedem, Germany.

NATO members without their own Air Policing assets are assisted by other NATO members. Luxembourg is covered by interceptors from Belgium.
Since March 2004, when the Baltic States joined NATO, the 24/7 task to police the airspace of the Baltic States was conducted on three-month rotation from Lithuania's First Air Base in Zokniai/Šiauliai International Airport, near the northern city of Šiauliai. Starting with the Turkish deployment, rotations changed to a four month basis. Usual deployments consist of four fighter aircraft with between 50 and 100 support personnel. To ensure Air Policing performance is conducted in a safe and professional way, adequate training was and still is required, as NATO member nations deploy their assets to Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, on a rotational basis. To standardize training across nations, Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein introduced a series of training events called Baltic Region Training Events (BRTEs) to capitalize on experienced aircrews deployed to Šiauliai and to offer superior training for Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian air forces and control facilities.

[edit] Deployments

Starting Date Country Air Force Aircraft Reference
30 March 2004  Belgium Belgium Belgian Air Component F-16AM Fighting Falcon [1]
1 July 2004  Denmark Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [2]
30 October 2004  United Kingdom  Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado F.3 [3]
1 January 2005  Norway Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [4]
30 March 2005  Netherlands Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [5]
30 June 2005  Germany Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom II [6]
12 October 2005  United States  United States Air Force F-16CJ Fighting Falcon [7][8]
1 January 2006  Poland  Polish Air Force MiG-29A [9]
31 March 2006  Turkey Turkish Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon [10][11]
1 August 2006  Spain Spanish Air Force Mirage F1M [10][12]
1 December 2006  Belgium Belgium Belgian Air Component F-16AM Fighting Falcon [13]
1 April 2007  France French Air Force Mirage 2000C [14]
1 August 2007  Romania Stema Statului Major al Fortelor Aeriene.jpg Romanian Air Force MiG-21 LanceR 'C' [15]
1 November 2007  Portugal Portuguese Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [16][17]
16 December 2007  Norway Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [18]
15 March 2008  Poland  Polish Air Force MiG-29A [19]
30 June 2008  Germany Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom II [20]
30 September 2008  United States  United States Air Force F-15C Eagle [21][22]
2 January 2009  Denmark Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon [23]
1 May 2009  Czech Republic Czech Air Force JAS-39C Gripen [24]
1 September 2009  Germany Luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoon [25]
3 November 2009  Germany Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom II [25]
4 January 2010  France French Air Force Mirage 2000C [26][27]
1 May 2010  Poland  Polish Air Force MiG-29A [28]
1 September 2010  United States  United States Air Force F-15C Eagle [29]
5 January 2011  Germany Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom II [30]
28 April 2011  France French Air Force Mirage 2000C [31]
2 September 2011  Denmark Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM Fighting Falcon
4 January 2012  Germany Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom II [32]

30 August 2011 a French Mirage collided with Lithuanian trainer jet L-39, which dived into a marsh.[33]

[edit] Gallery

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Belgium Baltic Air Policing
  2. ^ Air-police functions in the Baltic States to be taken over by Danish personnel
  3. ^ Hansard, 14/12/04
  4. ^ Norwegian Ministry of Defence:Norwegian fighter aircraft on a temporary NATO mission in the baltic
  5. ^ Air policing mission in the Baltic States to be taken over by Dutch troops
  6. ^ Germans takes over Baltic NATO mission
  7. ^ 23rd EFS protects Baltic skies
  8. ^ Sabers deploy to Lithuania, join NATO air policing mission
  9. ^ Warsaw Voice: Guarding the Baltic Skies
  10. ^ a b Turkish Military Personnel to Take Over Execution of NATO Air Policing Mission Over the Baltic States
  11. ^ Turkey leads NATOs Air Policing mission in the Baltic States
  12. ^ Spain to carry out NATO patrol in Baltic countries
  13. ^ Belgian F16's will lead NATO's Air Policing mission in the Baltic States from 01/12/2006
  14. ^ Estonian Review, Volume 17 No 13 Mar28-Apr3, 2007, p.3: French Take over Baltic Air Policing Mission
  15. ^ Romanian contingent takes over Baltic air policing mission from France
  16. ^ Portuguese F-16s to defend Baltic skies
  17. ^ A participação dos Jaguares na missão Baltics Air Policing 2007 (Portuguese Air Force 301 Squadron) (Portuguese)
  18. ^ Oro policijos misiją Baltijos valstybėse iš portugalų perima norvegai (Lithuanian)
  19. ^ Gazeta.pl: Prezydent podpisał postanowienie o użyciu wojska w dwóch zagranicznych operacjach (Polish)
  20. ^ German contingent took over Baltic Air-policing mission
  21. ^ US Air contingent take over Baltic Air-policing mission
  22. ^ U.S. Forces begin air policing mission in Baltics
  23. ^ Danish air force takes over NATO Baltic air policing mission
  24. ^ Air Contingent of the Czech Republic took over the NATO Baltic Air-policing mission
  25. ^ a b German Air Force to conduct once more NATO Air Policing over Baltic States
  26. ^ Rotation of contingents on Baltic air-policing mission
  27. ^ Air Baltic 2010 – France takes over
  28. ^ Dalyvauti oro policijos misijoje atvyksta Lenkijos naikintuvai (Lithuanian)
  29. ^ US Air contingent take over Baltic Air-policing mission
  30. ^ Richthofengeschwader sichert baltischen Luftraum (German)
  31. ^ Šiauliuose leisis Prancūzijos naikintuvai (Lithuanian)
  32. ^ Šiauliuose nusileido Vokietijos karinių oro pajėgų naikintuvai
  33. ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/08/30/361399/lithuanian-l-39-crashes-after-collision-with-french.html

[edit] External links

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