On June 29 and 30, the second Ramstein Alloy exercise this year will see Allied and Partner air forces come together to conduct live-fly training in the Baltic States and international airspace over the Baltic Sea. This iteration of the Ramstein Alloy exercise series will be hosted by Estonia, with Allies Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey and NATO Partner Finland as well as NATO E-3A AWACS scheduled to participate in the training drills with more than 20 aircraft.
The focus of the event will be on the training of drills, procedures and processes for quick reaction forces that safeguard the skies in the region. Besides the rotating Baltic Air Policing nations, the exercise brings together regional Allies and Partners to practice simulated scenarios such as communications loss and slow mover intercepts. The same applies to Air Command and Control that is practised during air-to-air combat training which will be provided by NATO E-3A and, for the first time flying from Turkey, a Turkish Air Force E-7A Peace Eagle.
“The team at Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem, the Host Nation Estonia and the other participating nations, have pulled together another demanding exercise programme integrating our air surveillance control personnel with Allies and Partners in a challenging environment,” said Lieutenant General Klaus Habersetzer, Commander Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem. “Regular training and cooperation with our regional Allies and Partners is essential to ensure we have an effective force in place to safeguard the Baltic Region,” he added.
A media event will take place at Ämari Air Base and on June 29 offering journalists first-hand impressions of how NATO Allied and Partner air forces train together. This year’s exercise also coincides with 60th anniversary of the formation of NATO Air Policing offering the media an opportunity to see first-hand how the system has evolved over 60 years culminating in the deployment of advanced fifth generation aircraft with the Italian F-35.
For more than twelve years, Allied Air Command at Ramstein and NATO’s Northern Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany, have organised Air Policing training events hosted by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Ramstein Alloy series provides a vital opportunity to exercise all these crucial standards of air safety and security with several different assets and nations. It is often used by Allied and Partner air forces to conduct currency training for their fighter jets, airborne early warning aircraft and tanker aircraft.
