DefenceTalkOn 31 December at the a ceremony, held at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai, the key for the Baltic airspace was handed over from the Portuguese Air Force to the Italian counterparts. Since 1 January Italy will be the lead nation of the NATO Air Policing Mission over the Baltic States, reinforced by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/eurofighter-aircraft-join-nato-mission-for-baltic-air-police-61293/

DefenceTalkNATO radars detected and tracked one unidentified aircraft flying in the vicinity of Allied airspace in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, 21 October at approximately 9 a.m. CET. Fighter jets from NATO Ally Denmark (F-16) were scrambled, as were Portuguese F-16 aircraft from NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission in order to identify the aircraft and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-air-policing-fighters-intercept-russian-aircraft-over-the-baltic-sea-60842/

DefenceTalkThe Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Jarmo Lindberg, has taken note that activity levels on the Baltic Sea have increased of late. He says the Baltic Sea is now the scene of more military exercises, as well as more air and sea traffic. “There has been more of everything,” Lindberg said during his […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defence-chief-nato-has-committed-four-to-five-times-more-aircraft-to-the-baltics-60755/

DefenceTalkAccording to the German magazine Spiegel, NATO is examining scenarios in the event of a Russian military move in Eastern Europe. Alarm bells are already ringing in eastern states, and NATO is keen to show it could cope. The article, which appeared in Spiegel’s online edition in German on Sunday, cites an internal North Atlantic […]https://www.defencetalk.com/spiegel-nato-unprepared-if-russia-moved-into-baltic-members-59621/

DefenceTalkRAF Typhoons have had their first encounter with Russian forces as part of their mission to protect Baltic airspace. The British fighters were already airborne on a training sortie when they were re-tasked to intercept an unidentified aircraft close to the Latvian border. At the same time Danish fighters were scrambled out Amari, Estonia, in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raf-typhoons-in-lithuania-retasked-to-investigate-unidentified-aircraft-59625/

DefenceTalkFighter jets from Poland, the United Kingdom and Denmark take over NATO air policing duties over the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Thursday (1 May 2014) as part of enhanced collective defence measures agreed to by Allies earlier this month. French fighter aircraft arrived in Poland on Monday (28 April 2014) to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/allies-enhance-nato-air-policing-duties-in-baltics-states-poland-romania-59450/

DefenceTalkTwo U.S. fighter jets under NATO command were scrambled from the Siauliai air base in Lithuania Tuesday (1 April 2014) to exercise with two Swedish Gripen fighter aircraft over the Baltic Sea, in a training event designed to improve coordination and emergency procedures. The Baltic Regional Training event is conducted several times a year. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-and-swedish-fighter-jets-train-together-over-the-baltic-sea-59210/

DefenceTalkFollowing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s announcement today during Senate testimony that the United States is augmenting its participation in NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltics and will increase joint training through its aviation detachment in Poland, a defense official provided additional information. In a statement provided on background, the official said the United States […]https://www.defencetalk.com/6-f-15s-kc-135-to-augment-nato-mission-in-baltics-58946/

DefenceTalkSaber Strike 2013 concluded June 13 as training locations in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia held closing ceremonies to commemorate two weeks of multinational exercises in the Baltics. “The exercise was an extreme success,” said Col. Frederick Jessen, U.S. Army Europe’s contingency-command post officer in charge. “We partnered with numerous nations improving our partner capacity and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/saber-strike-2013-demonstrates-multinational-partnership-in-baltics-48176/