Stunning Photo of U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle jets during Baltic Air Policing mission

May 1, 2014 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

48th Air Expeditionary Group has just handed over the task of Baltic Airspace air defense to the Polish and UK air policing detachments.

On Apr. 30, the U.S. Air Force in Europe handed over the Baltic Air Policing task to the Polish Air Force MiG-29s and UK’s Royal Air Force Typhoons that will provide air defense and safety to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, while preserving the security of NATO’s borders.

Before the RAF Lakenheath’s F-15 rotation came to an end (after several interesting close encounters with “Ivan”), during a mission flown over Lithuania, Rich Cooper took the stunning photo you can see in this post.

Image credit: RC-Pro Photography

 

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About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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6 Comments

    • at least you didn’t play grammar police..
      The photo is stunning
      1. shows three unique A2A platforms
      2. NATO is united
      3. they are armed to the teeth.
      Most interesting is F22 not here, and instead the big dog is the Typhoon. there is nothing Russia has except for Pak FA that can come close.

  5. Interesting that they have gone back to a 4X4 loadout, similar to the QRA Zulu birds of the 1980s.
    The Bothnian Gulf is surprisingly pleasant in summer but when it does stir up a storm, heat weapons become all but paperweights for want of seeker acquisition range. Similarly, the AIM-120 takes a real beating from boundary spill off the inlet lips when mounted on the fuselage shoulder stations and this is why you see so many ASA birds with just wing rail weapons mounted.
    Could we also be seeing the first signs of flagging confidence in the AMRAAM seeker? We’re not playing against the foreign export team here. Russian jets will have standoff SAP-518 and onboard SAP-514 pods fitted.
    I hope the Lakenheath birds have the -63V3 and the full up ALQ-135 installation…

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