NATO is to expand its air patrol mission in the Baltic states to include air defence
NATO has agreed to expand the Baltic Air Policing mission in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to an air defence format. This was announced by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda.
According to him, the updated format of the mission will grant pilots broader powers, particularly with regard to the destruction of targets that pose a threat, reports Reuters.
The Baltic Air Policing mission was launched in 2004 following the accession of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to NATO. As these countries do not have their own fighter aircraft, allied aircraft patrol the airspace and escort Russian military aircraft flying near their borders.
This year, mission aircraft shot down drones which, according to NATO’s assessment, had likely strayed into Estonian and Latvian airspace from Ukraine by accident. The Alliance noted that this was the first time the mission had opened fire to defend NATO member states.
Naudesa stated that the current air patrol mission was designed for peacetime, when fighter jets respond to incidents by escorting aircraft.
“The air patrol mission is intended for peacetime, when fighter jets respond to incidents by escorting aircraft. In this way, we demonstrate that we are paying attention to these incidents. It is a form of deterrence. But what is happening today is no longer a completely peaceful environment,” the Lithuanian president told journalists in Ankara.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated that the updated mission would ensure “greater flexibility and a faster response to air threats”.
Currently, Baltic Air Policing fighter jets are scrambled to identify every Russian military aircraft flying over international waters near Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, particularly between the Kaliningrad Oblast and the Gulf of Finland.
In 2014, following Russia’s occupation of Crimea, the mission was expanded. Today, it comprises more than ten fighter jets from three NATO countries, which carry out their duties on a rotational basis from two air bases in the region.
Last year, the mission’s aircraft also took to the air after Russia deployed a Su-35 fighter to escort a shadow fleet tanker whilst Estonia was attempting to detain the vessel. They did not engage with the Russian aircraft.
