Home  /  Newsroom  /  2025  /  Italian Eurofighters scramble from Romania during NATO's enhanced Air Policing mission

RAMSTEIN, Germany – On April 29, 2025, Italian Eurofighters were scrambled from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base for the first time since their Air Policing deployment to Romania commenced. 

Eurofighter from the Italian Air Force's Task Force Air 51st Wing, currently deployed to Romania on NATO’s enhanced Air policing mission, scrambled alongside the Romanian Air Force F16s in response to a potential threat in the north-eastern sector of the country.

The Alpha-Scramble order was issued by the NATO Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) in Torrejón, following the detection of a potential threat to NATO airspace. The NATO fighters, under direction of Control and Reporting Center (CRC) in Balotești, conducted aerial patrols along Romania's northern border. The Italian and Romanian jets both on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) took off to conduct Combat Air Patrol mission. 

NATO's enhanced Air Policing was an assurance measure implemented in 2014 to preserve the security of Allied skies. Archived imagery courtesy of the Italian Air Force.

Italian Eurofighters and Romanian F-16s are on Quick Reaction Alert from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, Romania. Archived imagery courtesy of the Italian Air Force.

The Italian Air Force contributes to enhanced Air Policing with 4 Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts for the current rotation. Archived imagery courtesy of the Italian Air Force.

NATO Air Policing is a peacetime mission that aims to preserve the security of Allied skies. It is a collective task and involves the continuous presence – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – of fighter aircraft and crews, which are ready to react quickly to possible airspace violations. The NATO Air Policing mission is carried out using the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS). 

Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), headquartered in Ramstein, Germany, oversees the NATO Air Policing mission with 24/7 command and control from two Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs): one in Torrejón, Spain, which covers airspace south of the Alps, and one in Uedem, Germany covering the north. When an interception is required – in the case of airspace violations, suspicious air activity close to the Alliance’s borders or other kinds of unsafe air traffic that does not adhere to international air safety norms – the relevant CAOC decides which aircraft will be used, according to the location of the incident.  

As a part of the broad set of assurance measures introduced following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Allies are providing additional assets to enhance air policing along NATO’s eastern borders. To that end, Allies supplement the existing NATO Air Policing forces in the Baltic States, deploy additional aircraft to Poland, and augment the national air policing capabilities of the Bulgarian and Romanian air forces.

In the current rotation in Romania the Italian Air Force contributes with 4 Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts, deployed in an advanced configuration which, among other capabilities, includes the ability to detect, follow, and track small and slow aircraft and identify beyond visual range threats. The jets operate under the national coordination and guidance of Italy’s Joint Operations Headquarters and are placed under the operational control of NATO’s CAOC Torrejón for the duration of the deployment.