On March 30 a hand over – take over ceremony will be held at the Šiauliai Lithuanian Air Force Base for allied Air Force Detachments conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states. The incoming air detachment is deployed by Portugal and reinforced by the Romanian Air Force. Across both, the total of eight F-16 fighter aircraft will be on guard of the Baltic skies.
The Portuguese Air Force will be providing a NATO Air Policing Mission Detachment for the Baltic states for the sixth time and Romania is sending its second rotation since the first deployment in Lithuania in 2007.
The outgoing Polish airmen were safeguarding the Baltic airspace with four F-16s and 150 pilots, technical, medical, support group, communications and other specialized personnel. The reinforcing element sent by France was approx. 100-strong and flew four Rafale fighter jets.
Over the time of deployment the Allied military held community engagement events in Šiauliai, hosted guided tours for students and schoolchildren, took part in city events and provided assistance to Šiauliai Foster Nursery.
The HO-TO ceremony on March 30 will be attended by Vice Minister of National Defence Greta Monika Tučkutė, representatives of Ministries of Defence of Poland, France, Portugal and Romania, representatives of the Allied Air Command, Ambassadors, representatives of Šiauliai City, etc.
The NATO Air Policing Mission started standing guard of the Baltic airspace in 2004, it was enhanced with additional capabilities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in response to the military Russia’s aggression in 2014.
At the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius in July Lithuania will aim to ensure enhanced air guard and a rotational air defence model to be developed aside from the NATO Air Policing Mission. The strengthened NATO air defence would encompass not only additional Allied fighter aircraft deployment but also stationing of ground-based air defence systems in the region which would enable air defence training activities and improve readiness for a smooth transition from air policing to air defence in the event of crisis.
Lithuania is investing into the infrastructure at the Air Force Base at in order to ensure good Host Nation Support to Allied air capabilities. Also, together with Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania has improved air training and exercise conditions in the Baltic region by establishing regional military airspace areas that form one bloc across the countries.
