Finland makes the first NATO air police mission in Romania. Seven F-18 Hornet planes landed at Mihail Kogălniceanu on Monday, where they will be stationed for two months and will perform missions alongside F-16 planes of the Romanian Air Force and Typhoon planes of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain.
“Seven F/A-18 Hornet aircraft of the Finnish Air Force landed on Monday, June 3, at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base 57. The Finnish detachment, consisting of approximately 80 military personnel (pilots and technical-engineering personnel) and the F-18 Hornet aircraft, will perform, together with Romanian Air Force and British Royal Air Force personnel, Reinforced Air Police missions ( enhanced Air Policing) under NATO command, for approximately two months”, according to an announcement by the Romanian Air Force.
“The Air Police missions have the role of defending and ensuring the integrity of Romania’s airspace and contribute to the development of the reaction and deterrence capacity, as well as to the consolidation of interoperability between all the allied forces participating in the mission”, the quoted source added.
NATO also announced the mission of the Finnish planes in a press release. “For two months, the Finnish aircraft will join a Royal Air Force Typhoon detachment and will have quick reaction alert missions and will fly alongside them and Romanian F-16s, collectively securing NATO airspace and assuring the Romanian population,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Rami Lindström, the commander of the Finnish detachment from Mihail Kogălniceanu, quoted by the mentioned source.
“Our goal here in Romania is to increase our integration into NATO air power by perfecting and deepening our cooperation with the Royal Air Force and the Romanian Air Force,” he added, stressing that the deployment is an important stage for the further development of “our ability to operate from another allied airbase.”