Air Policing Baltic States

Šiauliai Airport Amari Airport

Šiauliai , the main stationing place, and Ämari , serves as the first alternative place, the second alternative place (outside the map section) is Malbork in Pomerania

The Air Policing Baltikum (English Baltic Air Policing ) is the name of a NATO mission for airspace surveillance and protection of the Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania .

Mission goal

Since the accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to NATO in 2004 , the surveillance and security of the airspace has been taken over by the air forces of various NATO countries. In 2006 the Lithuanian , Latvian and Estonian armed forces took over the air surveillance through their cooperation in the Baltic Air Surveillance Network ( BALTNET ). The air forces of the Baltic states only have helicopters, transport and training aircraft, but not combat aircraft. Therefore they are not yet able to carry out visual identification or - e.g. B. by intercepting or pushing - to enforce their own air sovereignty.

Carrying out the mission

A USAF F-16CJ in Šiauliai (November 2005)

Two French Air Force Mirage 2000s on the tarmac at Šiauliai Airport (January 2010)

Fighter planes were therefore stationed at Šiauliai Airport in Lithuania to secure the airspace of the Baltic states . Since May 2014, following the completion of the modernization of the Ämari air base , NATO aircraft have also been stationed in Estonia. As early as October 2010, allied fighter jets were able to use the base in Ämari for training flights.

The contingents typically include four aircraft and around 100 personnel. At the beginning there was a change of contingents after three months. With effect from September 1, 2009, the period was extended to four months. After a “cold week” at the beginning, in which the pilots only complete training flights, the aircraft are armed with live missiles.

So far, Belgium , Denmark , Germany , France , Italy , Canada , Norway , the Netherlands , Poland , Portugal , Romania , Spain , the Czech Republic , Turkey , the USA , the United Kingdom and, most recently, Hungary have participated in air policing in the Baltic States.

To monitor the airspace, NATO sent appropriate specialist personnel, for example soldiers from the Air Force's operations management service , to the airspace control unit in Kaunas / Lithuania until 2006 . Officers from the Baltic states were trained to become fighter control officers in Germany in order to continue monitoring the airspace independently from 2006.

As a result of the Crimean crisis , the US F-15C squad was reinforced at the beginning of 2014, including the provision of a Boeing KC-135 tanker from the RAF Mildenhall base . The British Defense Minister Philip Hammond also announced on March 17, 2014 that the Royal Air Force was in a position to reinforce the American jets and, from May, the Polish Air Force by deploying Eurofighter Typhoon .

On March 17, 2014, the Russian Air Force announced the stationing of a fighter regiment with 24 Su-27SM3s on the Baranavichy military airfield in neighboring Belarus , and since December 8, 2013, there have been four Su-27SM3s and an AWACS Beriev A-50 aircraft stationed. In addition, six Russian Su-27s were stationed at the Bobrujsk military airfield in Belarus from mid-March to early June 2014 . In 2014 there were 150 sightings of Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea that had neither submitted flight plans nor switched on their transponders ; this was three times more than in 2013, which is why the number of patrolling NATO aircraft was initially doubled to 16 in 2015. From January to mid-August 2015, NATO planes had to soar more than 100 times in order to identify Russian military aircraft.

The original plan was for the air forces of the Baltic states to be built up from 2018 onwards so that they could carry out air surveillance and security themselves. When it became clear that this goal would probably not be achieved, the NATO summit in Chicago in 2013 decided to continue the program indefinitely until further notice.

Since then, the Air Force has officially designated the deployment as Reinforced Air Policing Baltic States . In 2016, there were usually 10 aircraft each, namely 6 in Ämari and 4 in Šiauliai. In 2019 there were initially 13, then 12 aircraft in service. In 2020 their number was reduced to 8.

In the summer of 2020 there was also the first bilateral cooperation between German Eurofighters and British Typhoons, in which a contingent of the German TLG 71 was integrated into the British 135 Expeditionary Air Wing .

Contingents

The data on the change of contingent given in the following table may differ by a few days at individual locations (Šiauliai, Ämari, Malbork), in accordance with the bilateral agreements between the incoming and outgoing contingents.

date	country	Aircraft type
March 30, 2004	Air component	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
July 1, 2004	Flyvevåbnet	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
October 30, 2004	Royal Air Force	Tornado F.3
January 1, 2005	Luftforsvaret	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
March 30, 2005	Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu)	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
June 30, 2005	air force	F-4F Phantom II ( JG71 "R" / JG74 )
October 12, 2005	United States Air Force (USAF)	F-16CJ Fighting Falcon
January 1, 2006	Siły Powietrzne RP	MiG-29A Fulcrum
March 31, 2006	Türk Hava Kuvetleri	F-16C Fighting Falcon
August 1, 2006	Ejército del Aire	C.14 Mirage F1
December 1, 2006	Air component	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
April 1, 2007	Armée de l'air	Mirage 2000C
August 1, 2007	Forţele Aeriene Române	MiG-21 Lancer C.
November 1, 2007	Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP)	F-16A Fighting Falcon
December 16, 2007	Luftforsvaret	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
March 15, 2008	Siły Powietrzne RP	MiG-29A Fulcrum
June 30, 2008	air force	F-4F Phantom II (JG71 "R")
October 1, 2008	United States Air Force	F-15C Eagle
January 2, 2009	Flyvevåbnet	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
May 1, 2009	Vzdusne Sily ACR	JAS-39C Gripen
September 1, 2009	air force	Eurofighter (JG74), F-4F Phantom II (JG71 "R")
January 4, 2010	Armée de l'air	Mirage 2000C
May 1, 2010	Siły Powietrzne RP	MiG-29A Fulcrum
September 1, 2010	United States Air Force	F-15C Eagle
January 5, 2011	air force	F-4F Phantom II (JG71 "R")
April 28, 2011	Armée de l'air	Mirage 2000C
September 1, 2011	Flyvevåbnet	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
4th January 2012	air force	F-4F Phantom II (JG71 "R")
April 27, 2012	Siły Powietrzne RP	MiG-29A Fulcrum
August 27, 2012	Vzdusne Sily ACR	JAS-39C Gripen
January 3, 2013	Flyvevåbnet	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
April 30, 2013	Armée de l'air	Mirage F1CR
3rd September 2013	Air component	F-16AM Fighting Falcon
January 3, 2014	United States Air Force	F-15C Eagle
April 28/1. May 2014	Siły Powietrzne RP Royal Air Force Flyvevåbnet Armée de l'air	MiG-29A (Šiauliai) Typhoon FGR.4 (Šiauliai) F-16AM (Ämari) Rafale C / Mirage 2000-5 (Malbork)
September 1, 2014	Força Aérea Portuguesa FAP Royal Canadian Air Force RCAF Luftwaffe Koninklijke Luchtmacht	F-16A (Šiauliai) CF-18 (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon (TLG74, Ämari) F-16AM (Malbork)
2nd / 8th January 2015	Aeronautica Militare Siły Powietrzne RP Ejército del Aire air component	F-2000A Typhoon (Šiauliai) MiG-29A (Šiauliai) C.16 Typhoon (Ämari) F-16AM (Malbork)
May 1, 2015	Luftforsvaret Aeronautica Militare Royal Air Force air component	F-16AM (Šiauliai) F-2000A Typhoon (Šiauliai) Typhoon FGR.4 (Ämari) F-16AM (Malbork)
25./31. August 2015	Magyar Légierő Air Force	JAS 39C Gripen (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon ( TLG31 "B" , Ämari)
January 7, 2016	Ejército del Aire air component	C. 16 Typhoon (Šiauliai) F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Ämari)
May 3, 2016	Força Aérea Portuguesa Royal Air Force	F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) Typhoon FGR.4 (Ämari)
September 1, 2016	Armée de l'air Luftwaffe	Mirage 2000-5 (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon (TLG74, Ämari)
5th January 2017	Koninklijke Luchtmacht Luftwaffe	F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon (TLG71 "R", Ämari)
1st May 2017	Siły Powietrzne RP Ejército del Aire	F-16C Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) C.15 / EF-18M Hornet (Ämari)
August 30, 2017	United States Air Force air component	F-15C Eagle (Šiauliai) F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Ämari)
January 10, 2018	Flyvevåbnet Aeronautica Militare	F-16AM (Šiauliai) F-2000A Typhoon (Ämari)
2nd May 2018	Força Aérea Portuguesa Ejército del Aire Armée de l'air	F-16AM (Šiauliai) C.16 Typhoon (Šiauliai) Mirage 2000-5 (Ämari)
August 30, 2018	Air component Luftwaffe	F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon (TLG74, Ämari)
3rd January 2019	Siły Powietrzne RP Air Force	F-16C Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) Eurofighter Typhoon (TLG71, Ämari)
1st / 3rd May 2019	Magyar Légierő Ejército del Aire Royal Air Force	JAS 39C Gripen (Šiauliai) C.15 / EF-18M Hornet (Šiauliai) Typhoon FGR.4 (Ämari)
2nd / 3rd September 2019	Air component Flyvevåbnet Vzdusne Sily ACR	F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) JAS-39C Gripen (Ämari)
January 2, 2020	Air component Siły Powietrzne RP	F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Šiauliai) F-16C Fighting Falcon (Ämari)
1st May 2020	Ejército del Aire Royal Air Force Armée de l'air	C.15 / EF-18M Hornet (Šiauliai) Typhoon FGR.4 (Šiauliai) Mirage 2000-5 (Ämari)

Web links

Commons : Air Policing Baltic States  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Detailed information on the Baltic Air Policing (English)
• The Polish contribution to air policing over the Baltic States in 2008
• Federal government press release of September 1, 2014: German participation in Air Policing

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NATO air force gets comfortable runway near the Russian border RIA Novosti
2. ^ NATO Air Policing Baltikum Luftwaffe.de
3. ↑ Johannes Leithäuser: Solidarity and deterrence. NATO is increasing its presence in the Baltic region . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of May 2, 2015, p. 2.
4. ↑ Radar guidance training is a big step forward for Baltic States , Luftwaffe.de
5. ↑ Thomas Wiegold : The British are offering additional Eurofighters for NATO air surveillance in the Baltic States. In: eyes straight ahead! (Blog). March 17, 2014, accessed March 18, 2014 . 
6. ↑ ITAR-TASS: К концу года на российской авиабазе в Белоруссии будут размещены 24 истребителя Су-27СМ3 from March 17, 2014
7. ↑ BelaPAN: Российские Су-27 прибыли в Барановичи from December 10, 2013
8. ↑ Белорусская военная газета: Спасибо за службу, друзья! dated June 5, 2014
9. ↑ Florian Hassel : Unwanted air traffic. The Baltic states are registering more Russian military jets than ever over the Baltic Sea . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 22, 2015, p. 7.
10. ^ Johannes Leithäuser: America sends F-22 fighter planes to Europe. Germany takes over the surveillance of the airspace in the northern Baltic states . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 26, 2015, p. 2.
11. ↑ NATO continues air surveillance over the Baltic States. (PDF) Retrieved June 28, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Air Force press release of October 1, 2014: Communication in the Baltic States , accessed on December 31, 2016.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Number of NATO jets policing Baltic airspace back down to 8 , news.err.ee, January 2, 2020, accessed on January 3, 2020.
14. ↑ Air Force and RAF train in Siauliai. Flight Revue, July 22, 2020.
15. ^ Polish Military Contingent Orlik 3 in Air Policing mission :: PMC Orlik 2
16. ↑ US military attaché visits the "NATO Air Policing Baltikum 2008" contingent , Luftwaffe.de.
17. ^ Homepage of the Danish Air Force ( Memento from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Flyvertaktisk Kommando
18. ^ Czech Air force Takes Over the NATO Baltic Air-Policing Mission Air Force News at DefenseTalk
19. ↑ Order successfully completed Luftwaffe.de, January 6, 2010.
20. ↑ Air Force ends operation in Lithuania , FliegerWeb.com, January 5, 2010.
21. ↑ JG 71 takes on airspace surveillance over the Baltic States again , Flug Revue , December 28, 2010.
22. ↑ German Air Force secures Baltic airspace , Luftwaffe.de.
23. ↑ Air Force press release of January 6, 2015: Air Policing 2014: Mission accomplished .
24. ↑ Craig Hoyle: NATO rotates Baltic air policing force. In: Flightglobal.com. May 5, 2015, accessed on May 8, 2015 (English): "Four of the Royal Norwegian Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-16AMs assumed lead responsibility for the mission at Šiauliai air base in Lithuania on May 1, where they are supported by the same number of Eurofighters from the Italian air force. [...] A continuing presence at Amari air base in Estonia involves the UK Royal Air Force deploying a quartet of Eurofighter Typhoons, while the Belgian air force has positioned four of its F-16s at Malbork in Poland. " 
25. ↑ Beth Stevenson: UK hands Typhoon baton over to Germany for NATO mission. In: Flightglobal.com. August 27, 2015, accessed on August 28, 2015 (English): "Notably, the coming rotation will see the BAP mission halved, with the number of aircraft allocated to each period to be reduced from 16 to eight. NATO maintains that the readiness level will not be effected by the reduction. " 
26. ^ BNS: Spain, Belgium to take over responsibility for NATO Baltic air policing. In: postimees.ee. December 28, 2015, accessed December 29, 2015 . 
27. ^ Bruce Jones: British, Portuguese fighters take over Baltic air policing. (No longer available online.) In: janes.com. May 2, 2016, archived from the original on May 2, 2016 ; accessed on May 2, 2016 . 
28. ^ "Touch Down" in Ämari: With Neuburg the contingent is complete , Luftwaffe.de, September 1, 2016.
29. ↑ Allies ready to continue NATO's Baltic Air Policing , NATO, July 13, 2016.
30. ↑ The Air Force takes on responsibility again in Estonia , Luftwaffe.de, July 21, 2016.
31. ↑ Netherlands to take over Baltic Air Policing lead from France in January , https://www.airn.nato.int , December 5, 2016, accessed on January 3, 2017 (English).
32. ↑ Reinforced Air Policing Baltic States 2017 , Luftwaffe.de, April 3, 2017.
33. ↑ NATO Baltic air policing mission Rotates , archive link ( memento of 4 September 2017 Internet Archive ), May 2, 2017. Retrieved on May 2, 2017 (English).
34. ↑ Vice Minister of National Defense V. Umbrasas: The US fighter jets in Lithuania are the expression of security in this region and in NATO as a whole , kam.lt, August 30, 2017, accessed on September 3, 2017 (English).
35. ↑ Italian Air Force to take over Baltic air policing mission in Estonia , news.err.ee, January 6, 2018, accessed on January 6, 2018.
36. ↑ Portugal to lead, France and Spain to augment NATO Air Policing in Baltics , NATO, April 16, 2018, accessed on April 23, 2018.
37. ↑ NATO Baltic Air Policing: Belgium to take over lead and Germany to augment , NATO, August 16, 2018, accessed on August 18, 2018.
38. ↑ Lenkijos kariai perims NATO oro policijos misiją Baltijos šalyse pradedant 15-uosius Lietuvos narystės metus NATO aljanse , kam.lt, December 31, 2018, accessed on December 31, 2018 (Lithuanian).
39. ↑ German Air Force switching units in Estonia airspace patrols , news.err.ee, December 27, 2018, accessed on December 31, 2018 (English).
40. ↑ Hungary, augmented by the United Kingdom and Spain, will lead 50th NATO Baltic Air Policing detachment , NATO, April 17, 2019, accessed on April 28, 2018 (English).
41. ↑ Vice-Minister of National Defense V. Umbrasas: NATO's Air Policing mission will continue to be as important to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as ever , kam.lt, September 3, 2019, accessed on September 8, 2018 (English).
42. ↑ Czech Air Force starts first Estonian deployment under NATO Baltic Air Policing , NATO, September 2, 2019, accessed on September 8, 2018.
43. ↑ Spain prepares to take lead for Baltic Air Policing mission , Janes, April 28, 2020, accessed on April 28, 2020 (English).