Two Gripen fighters of the Hungarian Air Force conducted a familiarization flight in the airspace of Estonia on Wednesday, December 10. The aircraft are getting ready to join NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission in 2014, the Directorate of the General Staff of the Estonian Armed Forces announced in Tallinn.
Hungary will perform the Baltic Air Policing Mission with four Gripen fighters and around 90 support personnel - a fact also reported by Russian state press agency RIA Novosti. Kristóf Forrai, Hungary’s ambassador to Helsinki, was among those observing the flight of the fighter aircraft at Ämari Air Base near the Estonian capital of Tallinn. According to a press release by the Estonian General Staff, he said that Hungary would fulfil its responsibilities completely in the Baltic Air Policing Mission.
The Hungarian contingent – to be stationed at Zokniai Air Base, Lithuania – will start flying air policing missions in the second half of 2015. The Baltic NATO member states do not have combat aircraft suitable for air policing, so since their accession to the Alliance in April 2004, the NATO countries have been providing their air defence on a rotational basis. The NATO aircraft are stationed at Zokniai Air Base in Lithuania, but from 2014 some of them have been relocated to Ämari Air Base in Estonia. As also already reported by RIA Novosti, The Baltic Air Policing Mission is currently being performed by Eurofighters from the German Air Force and also by Portuguese F–16s, Canadian CF–18 Hornets and Polish-based Dutch F–16 combat aircraft.
According to a November press release by the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, Hungary is participating more effectively in the NATO Integrated Air Defence System (NATINADS), and in the future the Hungarian Defence Forces may deploy aircraft and ground support personnel to NATO allies. Hungary will carry out the Baltic Air Policing Mission with four Gripen fighters and their ground support personnel between September and December 2015.