NATO expands Baltic mission, allowing fighters to shoot down aerial threats
Fighter jets (photo: Getty Images)
NATO has decided to change the format of the Baltic Air Policing mission, which has safeguarded the Baltic states' airspace for more than 20 years. The mission has now been upgraded to an air defense role, Reuters reports.
NATO changes the format of its air mission
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda announced the decision adopted at the NATO summit in Ankara. According to him, the Baltic Air Policing mission has officially been transformed into an air defense mission.
Baltic Air Policing has been operating since 2004, following the accession of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to NATO. Since these countries do not have their own fighter aircraft, their airspace is protected by Alliance allies.
Until now, the mission's main task was to detect and escort Russian military aircraft flying near the borders of the Baltic states.
Fighter jets receive new powers
This year, NATO aircraft used weapons for the first time as part of Baltic Air Policing. Drones that, according to preliminary assessments, were Ukrainian and had accidentally crossed the border were shot down over Estonia and Latvia.
The Alliance noted that weapons had not previously been used to defend NATO member states under this mission because it had been designed for peacetime conditions.
"The current air policing mission is meant for peacetime, when fighters react to incidents by escorting. This way, we show that we take note of the incidents. It's a kind of deterrence," Nausėda told journalists in Ankara.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on X that the updated format would allow for a faster response to aerial threats and provide greater flexibility in decision-making.
At present, Baltic Air Policing aircraft take off whenever Russian military aircraft fly over international waters from the Kaliningrad region to the Gulf of Finland and further along the borders of Russia's mainland.
Mission expanded after the annexation of Crimea
After Russia's occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Baltic Air Policing mission was expanded. It now includes more than ten fighter jets provided on a rotational basis by three NATO member states. The aircraft are based at two military airfields in the region.
NATO is deploying the Maven Smart System (MSS NATO), an artificial intelligence system developed by Palantir Technologies. It is designed to analyze intelligence data and monitor the situation on the Alliance's eastern flank, including tracking potential threats and troop movements.
