28 February 2022
Update – Ukraine conflict: NATO shores up enhanced Air Policing mission
by Gareth Jennings
A pair of USAF F-35As arrive in Romania on 24 February as part of a wider shoring up of the NATO eAP mission. (US Air Force)
NATO members have increased the number of aircraft committed to the alliance's enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission following Russia's further invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
With the current already reinforced eAP mission comprising combat aircraft from Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, additional aircraft have been sent by Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US.
“Over 100 allied fighters and enabling aircraft are already patrolling our skies and securing NATO's eastern borders 24/7,” the NATO Allied Air Command said on 26 February. “Together with land and maritime forces of the rapidly deployable NATO Response Force the alliance has activated, we are ready to further protect allies.”
NATO operates several air policing missions within its wider eAP construct, with the Baltic and Southern Air Policing missions being the two chief efforts geared at countering Russia in the east and the Icelandic mission doing the same in the north.
The Baltic mission comprises four Polish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons, four Belgian Air Component F-16s and four Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) F-16s in Lithuania and Estonia, and six US Air Force (USAF) Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles operating out of Poland. The USAF has now also forward-deployed six Lockheed Martin F-35A Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters that had recently arrived at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath in the UK.
The southern mission sees Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29s and Romanian Air Force F-16s and MiG-21s supported by four German Air Force Eurofighters and four Spanish Air Force Eurofighters, as well as two Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35As whose deployment was brought forward with immediate effect following Russia's action in Ukraine. Germany sent a further three Eurofighters to the mission on 24 February, while the Netherlands said it had sent six F-16s and was ready to commit more F-35As. The USAF has sent a number of F-35As from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany to shore up this mission.
The Icelandic mission comprises Portuguese Air Force F-16s, while other non-NATO missions include UK Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons operating out of Cyprus and French Navy Dassault Rafales from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The deployment of additional nations and aircraft across these missions is expected over the coming days.
The eAP missions are directed by one of two combined air operation centres (CAOCs). The CAOC at Uedem in Germany directs missions that are based north of an imaginary line that transects Europe along the Alps, while those located south of this line (including the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea) are directed by the CAOC at Torrejon in Spain.
This story, first published on 25 February 2022, has been updated with new information.
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NATO members have increased the number of aircraft committed to the alliance's enhanced Air Policing...
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