RAMSTEIN, Germany – Allied Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence (SBAMD) units and fighter jets will come together in Romania and Bulgaria to exercise Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) tactics from June 3 - 14, 2024.
Exercises like Ramstein Legacy are more important to NATO than ever, the scenarios provide the opportunity to enhance our integrated approach, multi-domain interoperability and unit readiness
Ramstein Legacy is Allied Air Command’s principal IAMD exercise, and its main objective is to strengthen cooperation, interoperability, and integration of the NATO air defence forces into the NATO common air defence command structure.
“Since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine there has been an increased use of missiles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and combat aircraft close to the borders of NATO nations,” said Brigadier General Michael Krah, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations at Allied Air Command who oversees all operational matters of allied air forces. “Large-scale training exercises like Ramstein Legacy are more important to NATO than ever, the scenarios provide the opportunity to enhance our integrated approach, multi-domain interoperability and unit readiness,” he added.
Ramstein Legacy 24 in Bulgaria and Romania is Allied Air Command’s principal IAMD exercise aimed to strengthen cooperation, interoperability, and integration of the NATO air defence forces. Archive photo courtesy NATO.
Another RALY 24 aim is to deliver much-needed tactical-level training for deployed SBAMD forces, fighter aircraft and controllers through training reporting procedures and coordinating participating assets. Archive photo courtesy NATO.
Tactical air defence systems will conduct live firing demonstrating integrated capabilities during exercise Ramstein Legacy in Bulgaria and Romania. Archive photo courtesy NATO
The exercise will combine Command and Control components with airborne control assets like this Turkish Air Force E-7T aircraft and air defence forces to practice NATO Tactics, Techniques and Procedures. Archive photo.
NATO members Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom will participate with SBAMD units and fighter aircraft to provide a theatre-realistic scenario and enable fully integrated combined joint training of this important collective capability. Estonia, Spain and Sweden will participate with observers during RALY 24.
Under the overall control of a Joint Force Air Component at Ramstein, Germany, NATO AWACS aircraft from Geilenkirchen, Germany, TUR E-7T aircraft from Konya, Türkiye, the Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon, Spain, and Bulgarian and Romanian control and reporting centres will ensure coordinated training inside a Joint Engagement Zone.
NATO members Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States as well as NATO agencies (Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Competence Centre for Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence, Integrated Air and Missile Defence Centre of Excellence and the NATO Communications and Information Agency) provide their Subject Matter Experts to support Exercise Control.
“We aim to exploit Ramstein Legacy to deliver much-needed tactical-level training for deployed SBAMD forces, fighter aircraft and controllers,” said Major Tomas Kurpas from the Ramstein Legacy planning team at Allied Air Command training and exercise division. “Through training our reporting procedures and coordinating assets we are contributing to NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, demonstrating we have the capability to timely deploy and integrate NATO forces,” he added.
The exercise will combine Command and Control components with NATO Airborne Warning and Control System support, national airborne Air Defence and SBAMD Forces to exercise NATO Tactics, Techniques and Procedures in a realistic multi-domain scenario. Embedded in Ramstein Legacy, deployed troops will be able to conduct Counter-small Unmanned Aerial System (C-sUAS) training. By way of experimentation, the U.S. Joint C-sUAS Office (US JCO) in cooperation with NCIA will introduce these defensive operations into a bigger NATO exercise.
The NATO IAMD system is a collaborative effort and a key defensive component of the Alliance’s Joint Air Power, which aims to ensure the stability and security of NATO airspace.
Later this year, Allied Air Command and Host Nation Greece are scheduled to conduct the first iteration of the NATO Ramstein Flag exercise series at Andravida Air Base in Greece. This exercise will build on Ramstein Legacy concepts incorporating Counter-Anti Access/Area Denial - tactics to further demonstrate that NATO defence against current and future threats, whilst continuing to promote regional security and stability.