RAMSTEIN, Germany – Boosting the range and on-station time of NATO fighter jets during Exercise Ramstein Alloy, air-to-air refueling planes were an essential element of the Air Policing drills conducted during a sudden return of winter to the Baltic States.
Conducting a multinational exercise in the Baltic Sea region is a legitimate activity required to maintain the currency of NATO air forces' skills enhancing air safety
A Multinational MRTT Unit A-330 flying out the Netherlands and a Spanish Air force A400M deployed at Šiauliai, Lithuania, conducted air-to-air refueling of fighter jets participating in the exercise in a dedicated area over the Baltic Sea north-east of Estonia.
The ground crews of both the Spanish F/A-18 jets and the A400M at Šiauliai had to conduct de-icing operations to ensure the assets were able to take off and participate in Ramstein Alloy. Two two-ship formations of F/A-18s took off to fly into Latvia and conduct Air-Land integration with NATO Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) from NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup.
Due to the return of winter with snow and ice, the Spanish F/A-18 jets as Siauliai had to undergo de-icing before taken of for exercise sorties. Photo by Arnaud Chamberlin.
After swift de-icing, the Spanish A400M was ready to take off and refuel fighter jets during Ramstein Alloy 24-1 over the Baltic Sea off the Estonian coast. Photo by Arnaud Chamberlin.
A Finnish Air Force F/A-18 fighter jet receives fuel from a Spanish Air Force A400M aircraft during exercise Ramstein Alloy 24-1. Photo by Arnaud Chamberlin.
Tow Spanish Air Force A/F-18 jets flying alongside a Spanish A400M after accomplishing air-to-air refueling over the Baltic Sea. Photo by Arnaud Chamberlin.
“Besides training our aircrew in Air Policing drills and procedures, NATO uses the presence of fighter jets for the Ramstein Alloy exercise to conduct Close Air Support missions with the JTACs in the region as a by-product. This increases training benefit for the fighter pilots in an air-to-ground role and the JTAC who can work with different nations’ jet aircraft,” said Squadron Leader Craig Docker, the Ramstein Alloy planning officer at NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at Uedem, Germany.
The Spanish F/A-18s then flew on into Estonian airspace to conduct – together with Finnish F/A-18s – air-to-air refueling with the Spanish tanker and participated in aerial drills with German Eurofighters, Portuguese and Polish F-16s and Swedish JAS-39 fighter jets.
“We were forced to cancel all our flights for the first day of Ramstein Alloy 24-1 due to exceptionally bad weather – of course safety is our top priority for this peacetime training,” said Squadron Leader Docker. “However, on day two – thanks to the great efforts of the participating air and ground crews - we were able to fly most of our scheduled training including the mission-essential air-to-air refueling portion. I am glad we have made good use of the enabling capability two available tanker aircraft represented during the exercise,” he added.
Allied Air Command and the CAOC schedule Ramstein Alloy exercises three times a year to offer opportunities to the in-place Baltic Air Policing detachments for training with regional air forces.
Conducting a multinational regional exercise is a legitimate activity required to maintain the currency of NATO air forces in executing collective defence tasks and enhancing air safety in the Baltic Sea region through standard procedures for identifying and/or assisting aircraft in distress.