News
| Date | Title | |
| 28 Jan. 2021 |  | United States Navy destroyer USS Porter entered the Black Sea on Thursday (28 January 2021) to conduct routine maritime security operations and to train with Allies and partners in the region. Porter is the third US navy ship to enter the Black Sea in recent days, joining guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and replenishment oiler USNS Laramie. |
| 26 Jan. 2021 |  | Six Spanish Air Force Eurofighters arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on Monday (25 January 2021) to take up two months of NATO air policing duty, patrolling and training alongside the Romanian Air Force. NATO’s enhanced air policing mission in Romania was established in 2014, demonstrating Allies’ commitment to deter any possible aggression. This is the first time that Spain has participated. |
| 28 Dec. 2020 |  | NATO air forces across Europe scrambled more than 400 times in 2020 to intercept unknown aircraft approaching Alliance airspace. Almost 90 percent of these missions - around 350 - were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft. This is a moderate increase from 2019. Russian military aircraft often do not transmit a transponder code indicating their position and altitude, do not file a flight plan, or do not communicate with air traffic controllers, posing a potential risk to civilian airliners. |
| 28 Sep. 2020 |  |
U.S. F-16 begin NATO air policing mission with Bulgarian air force The United States Air Force will begin NATO air patrols over Bulgaria on September 28, 2020. The four-week long mission will involve the deployment of six F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft to Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, which will fly alongside Bulgarian fighter aircraft. |
| 03 Sep. 2020 |  |
Canadian CF-188 jets start enhanced air policing mission in Romania The Canadian Armed Forces Air Task Force–Romania will begin their enhanced Air Policing mission in Romania on Saturday, 5 September, after receiving their readiness certification from NATO at a ceremony held at the Romanian Air Force Base Mihail Kogalniceanu on 3 September. |
| 14 Aug. 2020 |  | Allied ships and aircraft conducted air-maritime integration training in the Baltic Sea on Thursday (13 August 2020). En route to a port visit in Riga, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 vessels HMCS Toronto and NRP Corte Real conducted air defence training with Spanish F-18 and French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets participating in NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission. A NATO AWACS aircraft was on-site, providing surveillance of the ships' movements. |
| 13 Aug. 2020 |  | Allied fighter jets from Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria scrambled to respond to unidentified air activity over the Black Sea on Tuesday (11 August 2020). The aircraft was visually identified as belonging to the Russian military, and the measures were conducted in a coordinated and professional manner. NATO remains vigilant 24/7 to safeguard the airspace of our Allies. |
| 04 Jun. 2020 |  |
Meet Flight Lieutenant Quentin, a French fighter pilot protecting the Baltic skies Flight Lieutenant Quentin is a fighter pilot with the French Air Force. Operating out of Amari base in Estonia, he safeguards the airspace of the Baltic countries 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. |
| 28 May. 2020 |  |
Spain successfully completes first month leading NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Spain will complete its first month leading the current rotation of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission this week, after taking over on the 1st of May. Based at Šiauliai Airbase in Lithuania, the Spanish Air Force is helping to protect the airspace of NATO’s Baltic Allies Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania until the end of August. Spain’s deployment is supplemented by detachments of UK jets at Siauliai, as well as French jets based at Amari Airbase in Estonia. |
| 18 May. 2020 |  | Troops from NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in Lithuania are training together with British and Spanish pilots from the Alliance’s Baltic Air Policing mission. The training, which began on Monday (11 May 2020) and wraps up this week, provides an opportunity to improve close air support and air crew procedures and skills. |