As part of the NATO Exercise Swift Response, which is conducted under the umbrella of Exercise Steadfast Defender, the Royal Air Force (RAF) has deployed three Eurofighter Typhoon jets to bases located in Finland to support training flights over the skies of Estonia.
Specifically, the British jets are deployed under NATO’s Agile Combat Employment strategic concept, which involves the rapid preparation and availability of a small detachment of fighter aircraft to Allied Air Command. In this case, the unit involved comprises 50 RAF personnel, who have moved from their base at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania to Tikkakoski Air Base in Finland.
Regarding this, Nick Morrison-Smith, the leader of the Typhoon squadron deployed by the RAF, stated: “We are participating in a series of training flights that allow us to employ agile combat techniques, demonstrating the UK’s ability to rapidly move air assets to where they are most needed at any given time and quickly return to the original task.”
Regarding Exercise Swift Response, it is known as a military exercise led by the United States Army in Europe and Africa, involving 16 allied nations. Specifically, this meant that more than 3,650 US military personnel joined another 9,500 from the rest of the allied nations in a mission aimed at demonstrating NATO’s airborne deployment capabilities to respond to a crisis situation quickly and effectively.
This exercise has also provided an appropriate opportunity to involve Finland, a recently joined member of the Alliance, in the joint training frequently conducted in the surrounding territory. Again, in Morrison-Smith’s words: “It’s exciting to be part of such a large multinational exercise led by NATO, particularly working here with the Finns, our new NATO allies (…) They have been more than welcoming; they have made us feel very welcome here, and their professionalism has allowed us to have a smooth deployment so far.”
*Image credits: NATO Allied Air Command.
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