This
week, Spain is completing its first month leading the current rotation of
NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, after taking over on the 1st May. Based at
Šiauliai Airbase in Lithuania, the Spanish Air Force is helping to protect the
airspace of NATO’s Baltic Allies - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania - until the
end of August. Spain’s deployment is supplemented by detachments of UK jets at
Šiauliai, together with French jets based at Ämari Airbase in Estonia. The
Alliance Baltic Air Policing deployment is a defensive mission that sees NATO
nations sending planes to patrol the airspace of the three Baltic States, who
do not have fighter jets of their own. The Air Policing programme keeps NATO
fighter jets on alert 24/7 and ready to scramble in case of suspicious air
activity close to the Alliance’s borders. In the first quarter of 2020, Allied
jets executing NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled around 25 times to
safeguard Allied airspace.
Standing
NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) concluded a 9-day joint training
programme with the Estonian forces on 26 May. The exercise gathered seven ships
from four nations as well as several smaller surface craft, airplanes and
helicopters in the Baltic Sea. The first part of the training focused on naval
mine countermeasures, in the form of Historical Ordnance Disposal Operations off
the coast of Estonia. In total, the group, together with the Estonian mine
countermeasure vessels, covered an area of 44 square nautical miles and
identified 180 mine-like objects. Of them, 3 historical mines were neutralized.
“This low number of mines found is actually a positive result, as it proves low
historic mine density in the area. Together with our Estonian allies, we made
the Baltic Sea a safer place, and enhanced NATO’s overall situational awareness
in the area”, said the Commander of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1,
Commander Henning Knudsen-Hauge from the Royal Norwegian Navy. The training
exercise was carried out between 18- 26 May after a short logistical stop in Estonia’s
capital city Tallinn from15-18 May. SNMCMG1 currently consists of the German
flagship and replenishment vessel ‘Donau’, the Norwegian minesweeper ‘Otra’,
the German minehunter ‘Fulda’ and the British minehunter ‘Ramsey’. In addition,
the Estonian mine countermeasure vessels ‘Wambola’,’Admiral Cowan’, ‘Ugandi’
and airborne assets from the Estonian Air Force took part in the joint
exercise.
