The Royal Netherlands Air Force has deployed four F-35A Lightning IIs to Estonia, while French Rafales will reinforce Italian Typhoons in Lithuania.

Joining the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission from 1 December 2024 to 31 March 2025, four Royal Dutch Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs have been deployed to Ämari Air Base, Estonia. They replace German Eurofighterswhich has been operating from Lielvārde Air Base in Latvia since 1 March 2024. The four aircraft will allow at least two jets to be kept on high alert 24/7 for quick reaction warning (QRA).

In addition, the existing deployment of Italian Air Force F-2000A Typhoons to Šiauliai, Lithuania will be reinforced with Dassault Rafale jets from the French Air Force. New personnel have also been sent from Italy to allow those deployed since 30 July 2024 to rotate out. This combined deployment will also continue until March.

The increased number of aircraft will enable additional training missions to be flown alongside allied forces. NATO Allied Air Command also hints at the deployment of some of these aircraft on Agile Combat Employment exercises, where jets will operate at short notice from other locations, sometimes e.g. temporary runways.

Lithuania | #NATOs air police mission.
Rafale just landed in Šiauliai Air Base , ready to be executed #EnhancedAirPolicing assignments in the coming days.
Happy to share this duty with our ally!#SecuringTheSkies pic.twitter.com/9nvYya4p4T

— The Joint Staff – Military Operations (@FrenchForces) November 27, 2024

This will be the second time Dutch F-35As are deployed on the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission, having previously done so in 2023 when eight aircraft were deployed to Poland. This deployment, like many others for the BAP mission, generated headlines from close encounters with Russian forces – specifically an Ilyushin Il-20M ‘Coot-A’ reconnaissance aircraft escorted by two Su-27 ‘Flanker’ fighters.

The Dutch F-35s can be seen with radar reflectors mounted on the aircraft’s upper fuselage. These will protect the F-35’s true radar signature from adversary analysis when operating close to the Russian border and likely in direct contact with Russian aircraft. The reflectors are a standard fit during most operations, as they also help air traffic controllers track the aircraft on primary radar. However, the US Air Force’s F-35 has previously been noted over Eastern Europe works without these devices.

In September the RNLAF declared full operational capability for their F-35A and last Dutch F-16s withdrawn from service. The F-35 had undertook QRA duties in the joint air defense region Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg (BENELUX) in March.

Four Dutch F-35s strengthen NATO’s airspace surveillance from Estonia.

On the eastern flank, we are deploying a high-tech defense line against the Russian threat.

A powerful message: The Netherlands is steadfast in defending the security of our alliance territory. pic.twitter.com/TGmSgOJNbc

— Ruben Brekelmans (@DefensieMin) November 29, 2024

This F-35 deployment marks a return to full operations for Ämari, which earlier this month saw it the completion of an 18.5 million euro project to repair and equip the base’s runway and other operating areas as well as base logistics facilities. Ämari is now in its tenth year as a hub for NATO’s BAP mission.

Vaidotas Urbelis, Defense Policy Director of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, speaking at a ceremony in Šiauliai where the BAP mission was officially handed over from a Italian department to the next, pointed out that “NATO’s air policing mission is more important than ever. We see hostile countries intensifying hybrid attacks, provocations and sabotage on the territories of NATO allies. Reliable protection of NATO’s airspace in the Baltic States is a key factor for deterrence and defense. I thank our Italian and French allies for their commitment to the security of our region”.

Colonel Michele Nasto, the outgoing Italian detachment commander, noted that his detachment of Typhoons had flown over 600 hours since arriving in Lithuania, with an additional 200 flight hours contributed by an Italian Air Force Gulfstream E-550A Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft. 30 high alert fighters were launched and 50 Russian aircraft were intercepted. Three QRA launches were even made during the period a single day.

Meanwhile, the outgoing German branch in Poland has clocked up 1,200 flying hours since March 1, with 50 alert deployments. Over 1,000 personnel supported the mission during the deployment.

Reinforcement of the eastern flank

After the airspace invasion of Russian drones and weaponsa joint letter from defense ministers from Romania, Poland and Lithuania was reportedly sent to NATO allies calling for reinforcement of air defenses on NATO’s eastern flank.

Alongside the now simultaneous deployment of jets from three nations, a Spanish army detachment arrived in Estonia in September 2024 to operate a NASAMS anti-aircraft missile battery. This follows previous Spanish deployments of the system to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 2023.

NASAMS, which stands for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, is a Norwegian-developed capability that uses AIM-120 AMRAAMs in a surface launch role, guided by an AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar. NASAMS has now been adopted by many NATO and allied nations, including the United States, which use multiple batteries to defend Washington DC from air threats. Ukraine has operated NASAMS since November 2022 and has also demonstrated its ability to as well use AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles.

The command for a new AEGIS Ashore installation in Poland was formally taken over by NATO Allied Air Command on 19 November 2024, joining the existing AEGIS Ashore facility in Romania and providing a high specification radar capability over a significant part of NATO’s eastern border. Collocated SM-3 missile launchers offer a direct interception capability if required.

AEGIS Ashore is, as the name suggests, essentially a land-based variant of the AEGIS Combat System fielded by US Navy Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. It uses the same AN/SPY-1 passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar arrays as the ships. They are attached to a superstructure that angles each antenna face to provide 360 ​​degree coverage in a manner that replicates the Arleigh Burke class, both internally and externally. This structure is even officially referred to as the deck house. Additional structures elsewhere at the AEGIS Ashore site contain Mark 41 vertical launch system cells that contain the interceptor missiles.

The UK announced a ‘DIAMOND’ initiative in October, aiming to further integrate NATO’s missile defense capabilities, along with a defense pact with Estonia which will see the British Army’s 4th Light Mechanized Brigade Combat Team placed on high alert to deploy to the nation from July 2025. When Estonia enters service, Estonia will also be the site of the first deployment of the Challenger 3 main battle tank, an upgrade of the Challenger 2 -hull with a Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore gun housed in a completely new turret.