and
Zokniai air bases in the Baltic states. Within the Alliance, preserving airspace integrity is conducted as a collective task jointly and collectively using fighter aircraft for
air policing. Air policing is a purely defensive mission. Since the 1970s, NATO has established a comprehensive system of air surveillance and airspace management means, as well as
Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) assets for intercepts (QRA(I)) provided by its member nations. By means of radar sites, remote data transmission,
Control and Reporting Centres (CRCs) and
Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs) the Alliance ensures constant surveillance and control of its assigned airspace 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. NATO exploits these facilities to react within seconds to air traffic incidents in the Allies’ airspace. This structure of weapon systems, control centres and procedures is referred to as the
NATO Integrated Air Defence System (NATINADS). NATINADS has been and remains one cornerstone of Alliance solidarity and cohesion. The responsible Allied Air
Headquarters are at Izmir, Turkey and Ramstein, Germany. The dividing line is the Alps. The Headquarters
Allied Air Command Ramstein’s air area of responsibility is divided into two Implementation Areas controlled each controlled by a
CAOC. NATO members without their own Air Policing assets are assisted by other NATO members.
Luxembourg is covered by interceptors from
Belgium,
Slovenia is covered by the
Italian Air Force and
Albania is covered by Italian aircraft. Since March 2004, when the Baltic States joined NATO, the 24/7 task of policing the airspace of the Baltic States was conducted on a three-month rotation from
Zokniai Air Base in
Lithuania and, starting from 2014, at the
Ämari Air Base in
Harju County,
Estonia. Starting with the Turkish deployment, rotations changed to a four-month basis. Usual deployments consist of four
fighter aircraft with between 50 and 100 support personnel. To ensure Air Policing performance is conducted in a safe and professional way, adequate training was and still is required, as NATO member nations deploy their assets to Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, on a rotational basis. To standardize training across nations, Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein introduced a series of training events formerly called Baltic Region Training Events, now referred to as
Ramstein Alloy to capitalize on experienced aircrews deployed to Šiauliai and to offer superior training for Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian air forces and control facilities. The three host nations contributed €2.2 million in 2011 to cover the deployment expenses and are supposed to contribute €3.5 million yearly by 2015. In 2012, the Alliance allocated €7 million for Šiauliai airfield modernisation from the Security Investment Programme.
Hungary performed the mission for the first time in 2015. Italy carried out the mission in January–April 2015, with 14 members having participated in Baltic Air Policing so far. In 2013, the Baltic patrol was called in when the
Swedish Air Force was unable to respond to a simulated attack by Russian bombers against
Stockholm. During the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the
U.S. Air Force deployed six F-15C Eagle fighter jets from US-run
Lakenheath air base in eastern England to the Lithuanian Air Force Base near Šiauliai. These aircraft will augment the present mission comprising four U.S. F-15C Eagle aircraft. The U.S. heightened its NATO presence to increase the strength of the Baltic Air Policing mission. Another two U.S.
KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft brought aircraft service personnel. In May 2014, NATO established its second air base in Estonia's
Ämari near
Tallinn, beginning with a Danish deployment. In May 2014,
Polish Air Force units at
Malbork Air Base were reinforced by the
French Air Force. In January 2022, due to the massing of
Russian military forces along its border with Ukraine; American and Danish fighter jets were deployed to the NATO Baltic Air Policing detachments in Estonia and Lithuania, respectively, to provide enhanced air policing (eAP) over the
Baltic States. According to a former staff member of the
National Defence University of Finland, the Baltic air bases are untenable in a war scenario as they lack
hardened aircraft shelters, which make them vulnerable to attack. Also, Russia operates long-range
SAMs in
Kaliningrad,
Pskov and
Leningrad Oblast, which might severely hamper or stop air operations from the area. On September 19, 2025 three Russian
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31 aircraft entered into Estonian airspace and remained there for approximately twelve minutes. == Deployments ==