NATO drills new layered air defence over Romania

NATO has carried out a multinational air and missile defence exercise over Romania as the Alliance shifts from traditional air policing towards a broader system designed to counter aircraft, drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, according to Allied Air Command.

The Flexible Deterrent Option training on 9 September brought together fighter and tanker aircraft from France, Greece, Romania, Spain and Türkiye, alongside NATO Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and a tanker from the Multinational MRTT Unit.

The main focus was Integrated Air and Missile Defence, with the participating forces also conducting Close Air Support training with Romanian ground forces. Aircraft taking part included French Rafales, Romanian and Greek F-16 Fighting Falcons, Spanish F/A-18 Hornets and Turkish F-16s. Spain also deployed an A400M Atlas tanker, while Turkey contributed a KC-135 Stratotanker.

NATO said the activity formed part of a wider move away from an Air Policing framework primarily concerned with safeguarding Alliance airspace against aircraft and uncrewed systems, towards a multi-layered air defence posture capable of dealing with a wider range of threats.

The new framework is intended to cover threats including conventional aircraft, uncrewed aerial systems, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, using sensors, command-and-control systems, fighters and other capabilities as parts of a single integrated network.

Spanish Lieutenant Colonel Alberto B. Calvo López, commander of the Spanish detachment conducting NATO Air Defence duties at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, said: “The evolving threat also reminds us of the importance of collective, layered air defence, in which sensors, command and control systems, fighters and other Allied capabilities must be able to operate as a single, integrated system.”

The exercise used a “Red” versus “Blue” scenario focused on Integrated Air and Missile Defence.

NATO AWACS aircraft acted as the principal command-and-control element for the “Red” force, directing tanker aircraft and coordinating with Romanian forces on the ground. The training was designed to test how airborne and ground-based systems could be brought together in real time, with information shared between participants and command procedures rehearsed against a simulated air threat.

NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejón in Spain oversaw the activity, providing operational-level command and control while coordinating aircraft and supporting capabilities across the exercise. AIRCOM said the new Air Defence framework brings the Alliance’s air and missile defence activities under common rules, guidelines and command procedures regardless of the type of threat being faced.

The intention is to give NATO commanders greater flexibility to move and combine forces supplied by different member states, synchronising sensors, aircraft and other assets across several domains. The Romanian exercise was also intended to test how quickly allied forces could be assembled and integrated under a Flexible Deterrent Option, with those activities used to rehearse collective defence arrangements before they might be required during a crisis.