Turkish F-16 Fighters Deploy To Romania For The First Time For NATO Air Policing Mission
For the first time, Turkey has deployed a group of F-16 fighter jets to Romania as part of NATO’s Air Policing mission. In this regard, on November 30, 2023, four F-16s and 71 personnel (pilots and technical personnel) from the Turkish Air Force’s 152nd Jet Fleet Command landed at Romania’s 86th Borcea Air Base. After the planned briefings and the certificate ceremony held on December 5 at Borcea Air Base in Romania, the Turkish F-16 fighter platoon, which successfully completed all of the tasks assigned by NATO, became officially ready to carry out Air Policing operations along the Black Sea coast.
Ms. Simona Cojocaru, Romanian State Secretary of Defense Policy, Planning, and International Relations of the Ministry of National Defense, Romanian Chief of Defense Staff, General Gheorghiță Vlad, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Romanian Air Force, Major General Leonard-Gabriel Baraboi, and Commander of the Combined Air Operations Center Torrejon, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez De Lara attended the ceremony. Turkey was represented by its Ambassador to Bucharest, Ambassador Özgür Kıvanç Altan and Turkish Air Force Deputy Chief of Operations Major General Kemal Turan.
In her statements at the certification ceremony, Romanian State Secretary Simona Cojocaru said: “This NATO enhanced Air Policing Mission, conducted with the participation – as a first – of the Republic of Turkey’s Air Force, is of vital importance for the deterrence and defence posture, and the protection of the allied airspace as well as of the security and stability of our region. The Republic of Turkey is a strategic partner and ally of Romania. We appreciate Ankara’s commitment and contribution to the collective and regional security, within the allied multinational projects run in Romania and beyond.”
Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, Commander of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Center at Torrejón Air Base in Spain, stressed in his speech that NTINAMDS is a fundamental and permanent mission that protects Alliance territory, population, and forces from any air or missile threat or attack in peacetime, crisis, or conflict. The Lieutenant General also stated that by contributing to this system, all NATO members contribute to the indivisible cohesion, security, and freedom of action, which has become a critical component of deterrence and defense.
The Turkish F-16 fighter detachment will continue to patrol NATO airspace until March 31, 2024. Turkish forces will work together with four German Eurofighter aircraft, Romanian fighters, and the French MAMBA surface-based air defense system stationed in Capu Midia, which arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu in Constanta on Friday, November 24, 2023.
Enhanced Air Policing is part of the wide-ranging assurance measures implemented following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Other than Romania, it includes the safeguarding of the integrity of the airspace of allies like as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Poland. In this context, in the Baltic region, four Belgian F-16s and four French Mirage 2000-5 jets will protect NATO airspace at Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania and will be supported by four Polish F-16s from Ämari Air Base in Estonia. Italy, on the other hand, will continue to station four F-35 fighters at Malbork Air Base in Poland until 2024.