ESTONIA: JOINT TRAINING BETWEEN NATO AIR FORCES

During the Air Policing mission in Estonia, the Italian Eurofighter aircraft carried out training activities with various nations. Yesterday, Wednesday 28 February, marked the conclusion of the last in a series of joint training activities carried out between Italian Eurofighters and F-16s of the Danish Air Force, which are deployed on the NATO Air Policing mission operating as the lead nation from Šiauliai in Lithuania.
The training, which will also be repeated in the continuation of the mission, tested the shared procedures to be used in the event of activation for a “Scramble” by the Air Command and Control Centre (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany.
There were also numerous sorties with US Air Force F-16s deployed precisely to Ämari military airport for Theater Security Package activities, as well as, for the first time, with Swedish JAS 39 Gripen aircraft integrated into the “Finland Sweden Training Event – FSTE” programme. Of particular interest were the training missions carried out with the air assets of the host nation, Estonia, which, thanks to the use of the An-2 “Colt” aircraft and L-39 “Albatros” jets, made it possible to test the capabilities of the Italian Eurofighter in intercepting so-called “slow movers”, which, given their low speed, require even more complex procedures. In addition to flight crews, the training also involved the Italian personnel assigned to the TFA who carry out fighter-control duties and data-link manager/operator support and training for their Estonian counterparts at the “Space” Control Reporting Post (CRP) located at the Ämari base. Furthermore, it also carries out joint control activities for Air Policing missions and training activities.
Training activities and the sharing of methodologies and experiences with different nations are always of fundamental value for flight crews operating in international contexts. The Air Task Force36th Wing, deployed at the Ämari military airfield in Estonia for the NATO enhanced missionAir Policing, has carried out numerous air-to-air training missions alongside aircraft from various nations.
Since January, for a four-month mandate, Italian personnel and assets have been ensuring the integrity of NATO airspace by providing air defence for the skies of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia—member countries of the Alliance that are unable to provide for this task with their own forces—thus giving rise to what in NATO is referred to in this case as enhanced Air Policing.
Air Policing activity.
Air policing activity is conducted even in peacetime and consists of the continuous surveillance and identification of all violations of airspace integrityNATOwhich are met by taking appropriate action to counter them, such as immediate takeoff, known in technical jargon as a “scramble”.