Typhoon jets will deploy to Romania from May for the UK’s contribution to NATO’s Southern Air Policing mission.
The Typhoons from RAF Coningsby will be based at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in south east Romania for up to four months, working side-by-side with the Romanian Air Force to police the skies over the Black Sea.
The UK is the first nation to provide jets to this NATO mission.
Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon said:
“The UK is stepping up its support for NATO’s collective defence from the north to the south of the alliance. With this deployment, RAF planes will be ready to secure NATO airspace and provide reassurance to our allies in the Black Sea region.”
NATO Air Policing, according to the organisation, “ensures the integrity of Allies’ airspace and protects Alliance nations by maintaining 24/7 Air Policing.”
The mission is carried out under the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System and for NATO nations that do not have the necessary air capabilities, agreements exist to ensure a standard of airspace security.
The mission involves the use of the Air Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) and appropriate air assets such as fast jets.
Typivally, air policing operations respond to military and civilian aircraft in distress and/or that do not follow international flight regulations and approach Allies’ airspace.
I love the Typhoon but if we are deploying only 4 jets as we did in the baltics, then this is hardly newsworthy….
I also love the tyhoon and they are probably the best air superiority fighter outside the F22.
But… and its a big but… assigning 4 of these impressive aircraft to the fray is merely a symbolic gesture an our potential enemies know this.
There is absolutely no volume underpinning out current commitments.
this may be great of the sun or the daily mirror – bit actually means nothing without a force of 16 aircraft being despatched.
!,500 miles as the crow flies – well within ferry range for the rest of the squadron to get there even without refuelling, in the case of upped tension. And just as important as the 4 Typhoons (2×2) is that logistics and signals will be there already.
Seems OK to me – proportionate!
Typo – 1,500 miles of course.
Symbolic gesture is all it is supposed to be.
Europe makes gestures while Russia gets on with actually strengthening its military.
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