After two days of flying training and aerial drills of 15
Allied and Partner aircraft in the Baltic airspace, exercise Ramstein Alloy 1
closed this Wednesday. Estonia hosted the brief exercise involving fighter jets
from Belgium, Poland, Spain and Partners Finland and Sweden, transport aircraft
from Estonia and Lithuania and NATO airborne warning and control system (AWACS)
planes as well as the Control and Reporting Post (CRP) Amari and Combined Air
Operations Centre (CAOC) Uedem.
The aim was to train cross-border and cross-agency cooperation
and coordination during simulated real-world scenarios in the Baltic airspace.
Besides flying practice diversions at various regional airports, search and
rescue procedures and air support missions for Estonian Forward Air Controllers
at Tartu training range, NATO and Partner jets trained routine procedures with
military and civilian air traffic controllers. The tactical-level activities
help pilots and operators to respond quickly and professionally in case of
unclear situations in the airspace causing potential threats to civilian
aviation.
"I am very pleased with the
outcome of this first Ramstein Alloy," said HQ AIRCOM project officer Maj
Dimitrios 'Kookie' Koukaras: "We flew 45 sorties with numerous unique
mission profiles and had minimal cancelations due to weather. Thanks to the
effective cooperation of our Allied and Partner air forces, Host Nation Estonia
and CAOC Uedem, I can say mission accomplished!"
Ramstein Alloy is one of HQ AIRCOM’s tools of preparing NATO
air forces to respond to such situation across Allied borders and in
cooperation with Partner air forces.
After 22 iterations of the Baltic Region Training Event
series since 2008, Ramstein Alloy stands for NATO openness, predictability and
risk-reduction.
Two more Ramstein Alloys are scheduled for 2016, one in
Lithuania in June and one in Latvia in September.