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Belgian fighter jets due to start a shift in the NATO-sanctioned air policing mission in the Baltic skies were scheduled to land at the mission's base near Siauliai, northern Lithuania on Monday.
Belgian air force to assume NATO's Baltic air policing mission
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Four Belgian F-16 Fighting Falcons will land in the Lithuanian Air Force Aviation Base in Siauliai to take over the mission on Tuesday from French aviators, who are performing the air policing duties with Mirage F1 jets, spokespeople for the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said.
This will be the third time for the Belgian Royal Air Force to perform the Baltic air policing mission, after serving shifts here in 2004 and 2006–2007.
Since the Baltic countries have no air policing assets of their own, jets of NATO allies started guarding the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian skies from the Siauliai base in Lithuania when the three Baltic countries became members of NATO in March 2004.
Up to now, Belgian, British, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish and US airmen and jets have served in the NATO mission.