RAF Typhoon Jets Deploy To Estonia To Support Baltic Air Policing With NATO’s 70th Anniversary Logo On Their Tails

April 25, 2019 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti
70th anniversary calibration designs on the back of the four Typhoon fighters. (Image credit: RAF/Crown Copyright)

Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 jets from RAF Coningsby arrived in Estonia to begin their 4-month mission in support of NATO Baltic Air Policing.

On Apr. 24, 2019, four Typhoon aircraft belonging to the XI(F) Squadron based at Royal Air Force Coningsby arrived at Ämari Airbase in Estonia to begin their four-month deployment in support of NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission. OP AZOTIZE is the name of the UK contribution to the BAP mission.

The aircraft will take over the augmenting Baltic Air Policing role from the German Air Force Typhoons next week: they will protect NATO airspace in the Baltic States providing QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) duties. In other words, they will be ready to scramble on a 24/7 basis in the same way they do at home, RAF Coningsby or Lossiemouth.

One of Typhoons landing at Amari Air Base. (Image credit: RAF/Crown Copyright)

“As part of its assurance measures NATO has committed to protect Estonian airspace and the UK as a fully committed NATO partner regularly undertakes a turn of this duty,” Commanding Officer of 121 Expeditionary Air Wing, Wing Commander Dave Boreham, said in an official statement published on RAF website.

121 EAW comprises RAF personnel mainly drawn from RAF Coningsby, according to the RAF.

This is the second time RAF Typhoons deploy to Estonia. The previous rotation took place in 2016. What makes this deployment a bit different is the fact that the aircraft were given special markings: indeed, the tails of the four British Eurofighters sport a large NATO’s 70th Anniversary logo.



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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