Seven Finnish Air Force F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets landed at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta in Romania for NATO’s Air Shielding mission, which will see them conducting both training and real-world sorties along the eastern flank on the Black Sea coast. 

The purpose of Air Policing and Air Shielding missions is to provide peacetime deterrence. They are, however, different. Member states’ air forces surveil and protect the integrity of Allied airspace through the standing Air Policing mission. The Air Shielding mission, on the other hand, consists of an increased presence of fighter jets and ground-based air defense units in NATO’s eastern member states.

“For two months, the Finnish jets are joining a Royal Air Force Typhoon detachment and will be doing quick-reaction alert duty and flying alongside them and Romanian F-16s collectively securing NATO airspace and assuring the Romanian population,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rami Lindström, the first commander of the Finnish detachment at Mihail Kogalniceanu, cited in the NATO press release.

“Our objective here in Romania is to enhance our integration into NATO Air Power by honing and deepening our cooperation with the Royal Air Force and the Romanian Air Force”, he added.

The tasks of the fighter detachments participating in the Air Shielding mission include quick-reaction alert duty, patrol flights under the command of NATO’s integrated air and missile defense, as well as exercise activities, and maintaining the collective deterrence of the Alliance. 

Consisting of seven F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and less than 100 airmen, the detachment’s first goal will be achieving full operational readiness.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: NATO website)