On February 6 Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė met with Undersecretary of State for Defence Isabella Rauti during her visit in Lithuania to discuss implementation of the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model agreed to at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
“The European security is depends directly on defence of the northeastern flank, therefore we are deeply grateful to Italy for this significant contribution to the security of our region. Italy is committing capabilities to implement the Rotational NATO Defence Model, namely, the SAMP/T surface-based long-range air and missile defence system for the upcoming exercise in Lithuania, This is a significant contribution to a stronger deterrence and defence,” note Minister D. Šakalienė.
At an exercise in Šiauliai this February Italy’s SAMP/T will be synchronized with the NATO Air Policing air assets in the Baltic states contributed by France and Italy, NATO air and missile defence command and control system and the Lithuanian NASAMS capability to ensure successful execution of regional air defence operations
Currently Italy flies its 7th rotation of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states, contributes to the NATO Multinational Battle Groups Lithuania and operates ships patrolling in the Baltic Sea.
Last year the Netherlands deployed the Patriot air-based long-range air defence system for the Baltic Connection 24 combat readiness cycle in Lithuania marking a milestone in implementing NATO’s Rotational Air Defence Model. The model was agreed to at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
Photo credits: A.Pliadis
