RAMSTEIN, Germany – A mix of Allied Air Policing arrangements is in place for Slovakia, ensuring the seamless coverage and protection of the country’s airspace by several Allies’ fighter aircraft.
Since September 2022, Poland and Czech Republic have pledged fighter aircraft launched out of their respective home bases able to react at a moment's notice should the integrity of Slovak airspace be at risk. Germany – since early September 2023 – is keeping two mission-ready Eurofighters at Neuburg available for Air Policing scrambles over Slovakia and training sorties with other Allies.
This is the way ahead towards one collective airspace where NATO fighter jets move across borders to ensure interceptors can fly in other Allies’ airspace and secure the skies
“This is the way ahead towards one collective airspace where NATO fighter jets can move across borders to ensure interceptors are available to fly in other Allies’ airspace and secure the skies,” said Italian Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Marco Pasqual, Air Policing expert at Allied Air Command. “This is a strong demonstration of NATO’s ability to collectively and mutually protect and defend every inch of Allied territory,” he added.
Poland is one of the Allies that employ their F-16s to fly NATO Air Policing missions over Slovakia. Archive photo courtesy Polish Air Force.
The Czech Republic and Hungary are also part of the arrangements - a Czech Gripen taking off from 21st AB Čáslav for Air Policing over Slovakia. Archive photo by Petr Dohnal.
The Slovak Air Force Control and Reporting Centre ensures the Slovak Air Policing is embedded in NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence System. Photo courtesy Slovak Air Force.
Slovakia is replacing its fleet of legacy Soviet-made MiG-29s by new F-16 fighter jet.
Archive photo courtesy Slovak Air Force.
“This level of interoperability enables NATO and the Allies to maintain and support its aircraft; cross-border arrangements are also a way to make progress with Agile Combat Employment (ACE) deployments, supporting common procedures such as Aircraft Cross Servicing,” said Lieutenant Colonel Pasqual. “This allows us to move air assets where and when needed, while developing the speed and responsiveness to deploy and re-deploy forces as required,” he added.
It is great to have friends and to count on them to fly Air Policing missions
The multilateral arrangements for Slovakia were necessary because the country is replacing its fleet of legacy Soviet-made MiG-29s by new F-16 fighter jets. Czech, Polish and German fighter pilots have gathered experience with providing NATO Air Policing abroad in the past; they were stationed in the Baltic and Black Sea regions and provided intercept capabilities in the skies over Iceland.
“It is great to have friends and to count on them,” said Major General Róbert Tóth, Commander of the Slovak Air Forces. “As we are in the process of upgrading our fighter and interceptor capability, we are grateful to our Allies who support us by making their jets available to fly Air Policing missions. Our Control and Reporting Centre ensures that the protection of our skies is firmly embedded in NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence via the Northern Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany,” General Tóth added.
Preserving the integrity of NATO airspace is a collective task. NATO has several similar multilateral arrangements in place to ensure the same level of airspace security for Allies that do not have the necessary air capabilities (Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovenia). Being the key element of NATO collective defence in peacetime, Air Policing across NATO airspace has been a success story of the Alliance for more than 60 years. A complex system of systems enables the Allies to detect, track and identify to the greatest extent possible aerial objects approaching NATO airspace so that potential violations can be recognized early, and appropriate action taken.
Starting with 13 Allies in 1961, participation in NATO Air Policing mission now involves all 31 Allied nations. The effort is centrally controlled by two Combined Air Operations Centres at Uedem, Germany, for Northern Europe and Torrejón, Spain, for Southern Europe and overseen by NATO Allied Air Command in Ramstein.