We Went Air-to-Air With The Danish Vipers Supporting NATO Baltic Air Policing And Took These Stunning Photos
The Aviationist
Jacek Siminski
Apr. 16, 2018
On Jan. 5. 2018 the duty in the Baltic region has been taken over by the Danes, who have deployed four F-16 Fighting Falcons to Lithuania, relieving the U.S. Air Force’s 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron F-15Cs off duty. The mission is a part of the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense (NIAMD).
The operation has been held regularly since the year 2004, as Lithuania and Baltic States’ air defense system lacks fighter force that would be able to provide air policing duties in this critical area. Due to the fact that the region is also critical in the light of the vicinity of Russia, it “offers†a lot of opportunities to meet the potential intruders in the air – here we are referring to the Russian Air Force whose aircraft, in international airspace, “test†the readiness of the QRA assets deployed by NATO in the region.
It shall be noted that even though initially the Baltic Air Policing operation had been hosted only by the Lithuanians, at the Siauliai airbase (which underwent significant expansion and modernization, for the sake of hosting the NATO assets), after the Russians gradually become more active and somehow aggressive, the operation has been enhanced.
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https://theaviationist.com/2018/04/16/we-went-air-to-air-with-the-danish-vipers-supporting-nato-baltic-air-policing-and-took-these-stunning-photos/Some really good photography here.
When English is not your first language: The authors would like to thank the Siauliai AB staff for their hospitality and professional attitude we could have witnessed during the photoshoot.
