Daily Archives: May 1, 2014

Lithuania: US hands over NATO air patrol to UK
VideoID: 20140430 037 W/S Ground crew beside aircraft M/S Ground crew W/S F-15 fighter jet behind wire M/S US Air Force personnel W/S Ground crew checking payload M/S Payload W/S US Crew around...

By: RuptlyTV

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Lithuania: US hands over NATO air patrol to UK - Video

NATO triples fighter jets in Baltic countries
NATO is responding to tensions in Ukraine by tripling the number of fighter jets patrolling the air over Baltic countries that border Russia. The move came in response to Russia #39;s annexation...

By: Al Jazeera English

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NATO triples fighter jets in Baltic countries - Video

TALLINN, Estonia NATO has opened its second Baltic air base in Estonia as part of the military alliance's increased regional air policing mission during the Ukraine crisis.

Estonia's military says four Danish fighter jets arrived at the Amari air base, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital Tallinn on Wednesday.

The Royal Danish Air Force F-16 planes will patrol the skies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for four months in coordination with NATO fighter jets stationed in Lithuania. After that, Germany will take over the rotational mission.

In an opening ceremony, Estonia's Prime Minister Taavi Roivas praised NATO's decision to deploy planes to the country, saying it will boost regional security.

NATO has carried out Baltic air patrols from a former Soviet base in Lithuania since 2004.

Excerpt from:

NATO opens second Baltic air base in Estonia with 4 Danish fighter jets amid Ukraine crisis

Thu, May 01, 2014

Four Royal Air Force Typhoons have deployed today to take part in the NATO Baltic air policing mission over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The UK fast jets will reinforce the Polish contribution to the air policing mission; a standing defensive mission undertaken by rotations of aircraft from contributing nations on a 4-month cycle.

The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond announced this to the House of Commons in March. The deployment forms part of a series of measures taken by NATO to support and reassure its eastern member states.

"In the wake of recent events in Ukraine, it is right that NATO takes steps to reaffirm very publicly its commitment to the collective security of its members," Hammond said. "As a leading member of NATO, the UK is playing a central role, underlined by todays deployment of RAF Typhoon aircraft to Lithuania. This, alongside the other action we are taking, will provide reassurance to our NATO allies in eastern Europe and the Baltic states."

As part of standing arrangements within NATO, members of the alliance without their own air policing assets are assisted by others.

The RAFs Typhoon FGR4, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and RAF Leuchars in Fife, is also used to provide air policing within UK airspace as part of the Quick Reaction Alert and in the Falkland Islands.

A multi-role combat aircraft, it is capable of being deployed in the full spectrum of air operations, from air policing through to high intensity conflict.

This Typhoon deployment comes 6 weeks after the UK Sentry E-3D aircraft, which is part of the NATO Airborne Warning and Control System Force, was deployed to Polish and Romanian airspace to provide additional reassurance to our allies.

(Image provided by the RAF)

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RAF Deploys Typhoon Jets To Bolster NATO Air Policing Mission