The Estonian Air Force and Amari airbase will play a key role in the exercise.
According to Interfax, a two-day exercise of the air forces of NATO countries and their partners Ramstein Alloy started in the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Tuesday, the main purpose of which is to work out the security of the Baltic airspace.
“The Estonian Air Force and the Amari airbase will play a key role in the exercise”, – the press service of the Estonian Defense Forces headquarters said. Actions in case of loss of communication, aircraft tracking, detection of slow moving aircraft and search and rescue operations will be practiced.
In addition to Italian and Spanish fighters based in Estonian Amari and Lithuanian Siauliai, Finnish, German, Polish, Spanish and Turkish pilots will take part in the exercises. In total, more than 20 aircraft are involved. A NATO AWACS E-3 early warning and airspace control aircraft will be in the skies over the Baltic Sea.
“The UEDem Joint Air Operations Center team, host country Estonia and other participating countries have once again put together a sophisticated training program that brings together our aerial surveillance personnel with allies and partners in a challenging environment”, – said NATO Joint Air Operations Command Commander General -Lt. Klaus Habersetzer.
According to him, “regular training and cooperation with our regional allies and partners is necessary to ensure effective defense of the Baltic region”.