These maneuvers will last four days, and the main objective is to ensure the security of the airspace of the participating nations and conduct communication and control procedures,” the Estonian Defense Forces General Staff stated in a communique.
The initiative was taken in the context of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, and despite Moscow’s constant rejections to similar maneuvers near its borders, as it describes them as a “danger to its national security.”
The drills, the note states, will also include training of actions in case of communication loss, aircraft escort, identification of aerial targets, and search and rescue operations.
In addition to the French and Spanish fighters that are deployed at the Amari (Estonia) and Siuljai (Lithuania) airbases, the exercises will include the participation of Finnish, German, Swedish, Czech, British and Turkish fighters, according to the press release.
Finland and Sweden will take part in the exercise despite that they are still excluded from the list of member countries of the Atlantic alliance and the Turkish veto on their accession.
The Ramstein Alloy exercises have been held three times a year since 2008, and according to the official version in these trainings, the NATO fighters are complying on a rotating basis with the mission of protecting the airspace of the Baltic states,” although according to Moscow, they in fact are provocative actions against the Eurasian nation.
ef/iff/rgh/hml
