CONSTANTA, Romania - The Royal Air Force (RAF) detachment deployed to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near Constanta on the Black Sea coast since end of April continue to further improve their infrastructure to execute their NATO mission. 

 

A team of RAF specialists have been hard at work here to support the RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft from 3 (Fighter) Squadron based at RAF Coningsby and a 150-strong detachment drawn from stations across the UK, who make up 135 Expeditionary Air Wing. 

 

The team have been building temporary hangars to protect the fighter jets currently stationed there from the weather. Two large sunshades, each eight metres wide, are needed to keep the Typhoons and their cockpits from overheating during the summer, while they and their pilots sit on ‘Q’, as the Quick Reaction Alert role is known in the RAF.  Throughout the RAF’s deployment to Romania, the jets will be ready to patrol Romanian airspace against any threat.

 

The RAF mission is to conduct NATO Enhanced Air Policing as part of NATO’s Assurance Measures. These measures were introduced in 2014 to demonstrate the Alliance’s collective resolve, the defensive nature of NATO, and to deter Russia from aggression against the Allies.  

 

In concert with the Romanian Air Force’s own fleet of MiG -21 LanceR aircraft, the RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft fly Air Policing missions safeguarding the Romania’s skies under tactical control of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Command at Torrejon, Spain.