Eight Spanish Air Force F-18 Hornet arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania to commence their four-month NATO enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission. The detachment of 150 military personnel from the Spanish Air and Space Forces will support NATO’s Air Policing missions, patrolling and training alongside the Romanian Air Force. The Spanish F-18 detachment replaced the Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon’s, who return to the United Kingdom concluding their four-month rotation. Deployments under enhanced Air Policing are planned in advance and rotate among NATO Allies. They ensure collective deterrence and defence, protecting and securing the integrity of NATO’s airspace.
The ceremony was also attended by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Gheorghiță Vlad, His Excellency José Antonio Pérez-Solórzano, the Ambassador of Spain to Romania, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, Commander of CAOC Torréjon and Major General Leonard Baraboi, Chief of Staff of the Romanian Air Force. Enhanced Air Policing is part of NATO’s assurance measures introduced in 2014, after Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. The Alliance implemented these assurance measures to demonstrate the collective resolve of Allies, to demonstrate the defensive nature of NATO, and to deter Russia from aggression or the threat of aggression.
The certification ceremony was held on August, 6, attended by the Minister of National Defence, Angel Tîlvăr, who emphasised the necessity for continuous adaptation to the evolving regional security environment. Stating “We must remain agile in the face of changes in the security landscape confronting the Alliance, and we must send a strong, unequivocal message to the public; we are united under the umbrella of the largest defence alliance, working together to protect the airspace of NATO’s southeastern flank – a region with a complex security architecture, particularly following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022.”
As part of these Assurance Measures, NATO’s Air Policing mission is enhanced across two Implementation Areas. NATO members are authorized and encouraged to provide additional assets to the Alliance supplementing existing Baltic Air Policing capabilities in the northern Implementation Area and, in parallel, augmenting national Air Policing capabilities in the southern Implementation Area. Since 2014, Baltic Air Policing has been continuously augmented as part of the Assurance Measures by a second detachment, based at Ämari, Estonia. In the South, Romania’s and Bulgaria’s national Air Policing capabilities are and have been temporarily augmented by detachments from various Allied Air Forces.
