As part of their deployment in Western Europe, EF-18 fighters of the Spanish Air and Space Force, currently operating in Romania on Air Policing missions, conducted an exercise with F-18 Hornet, Gripen, and Eurofighter aircraft from the Finnish, Swedish, and Italian Air Forces.
Since the beginning of the month, the Spanish Air Force, integrated within the Paznic detachment, has deployed a total of eight EF-18 fighter-bombers to Romania. Currently, they are operating from Romania’s 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base to carry out Air Policing missions in the region for the next four months. However, this important task does not preclude the possibility of conducting other combined activities with NATO allies, such as with the Swedish, Finnish, and Italian Air Forces in the Baltic region.
According to a report by the Spanish General Staff of Defense a few days ago, a total of four fighters from the Paznic Detachment headed to the Baltic to conduct a series of air-to-air training exercises with fighters and support aircraft from the mentioned air forces.
In this regard, the EMAD stated: “The exercise was conducted in the airspace over the Baltic Sea, where pilots from the “Paznic” Detachment engaged with F-18, JAS 39 Gripen, and Eurofighter fighters from allied air forces. Additionally, the Spanish fighters performed in-flight refueling maneuvers both on the outbound and return journeys, thanks to the support of a Royal Netherlands Air Force Airbus 330 MRTT. The air-to-air training mission was controlled by the Lielvarde Air Defense Center (Latvia), thus also enhancing the training of Latvian Air Force interception controllers.”
Adding: “The purpose of this training exercise is to ensure a deterrent presence in the allied territory of the Eastern Flank, as well as to strengthen the readiness of forces to secure NATO’s air superiority in an environment different from their home countries. In this sense, the forces deployed in the Enhanced Air Policing (EAP) mission and took advantage of an excellent opportunity to carry out their tactical training in a very different space from their usual one, as well as to test their tactics and procedures with other allied air forces.”
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