In a mission spanning NATO’s northern and southern Air Policing Areas, Spanish F/A-18 jets deployed to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing at Siauliai, Lithuania, joined Spanish Eurofighters currently conducting an Agile Combat Employment at Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, to fly aerial combat drills in Romanian airspace. The training was supported by a Spanish A400M air-to-air refuelling aircraft currently deployed at Siauliai enabling the extended range of the fighter aircraft during a five-hour flight from the north to the south of the Alliance’s eastern flank.
“This kind of training is extremely important for our aircrew and ground crews alike,” said Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sanchez de Lara, commander of NATO’s southern Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon, Spain. “While both Spanish detachments are assigned for NATO missions, we use every opportunity to enhance our pilots’ skills and demonstrate Alliance capabilities and readiness. Adding an air-to-air refuelling capability provides even more training benefit and adds complexity to our planners’ tasks,” he added.
“Training missions like the one on April 16 underscore that NATO has robust and flexible forces in place to support Alliance deterrence and defence,” added General Sanchez de Lara. “These drills prepare our forces to shield and protect Alliance citizens and territory from armed attack wherever needed. They are also testimony of the excellent cooperation work between our two CAOCs that ensures seamless command and control even when assets are operating across distance of 2,000 kilometres,” he concluded.
