An intense week that the men of the Air White Eagle Task Force have faced to date, due to the numerous interventions requested by the CAOC of Uedem in Germany, often culminating in Alpha Scramble with immediate take-off.
The area affected by the totality of the alarms called by the Combined Air Operation Center (CAOC) of Uedem is that of the Baltic Sea, which is seeing these days the presence in the Kaliningrad area adjacent to the Polish FIR, of an impressive exercise of the Russian Federation, the so-called Combat and Staff.
The simultaneous presence in the Baltic also of some NATO naval assets, has meant that to ensure the security of the Alliance’s borders, taking into account the complexity of the context, the NATO Chain of Command and Control has created a maximum security device for all the assets present, also through numerous Scrambles, which in the period from 19 to 23 September were 8 only for the Italian component of the TFA White Eagle.
The Eurofighters of the Italian Air Force deployed with the Italian contingent for the first time in Poland, responded promptly and immediately to all calls, in the times and in the manner provided for by NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission, a purely defensive mission and not based on a specific threat, always and in any case oriented to preserve the territorial integrity of the Alliance, with security measures that can be increased or reduced depending on the security situation.
Given the complexity of the moment, the difficulties of operating so close to the border and, not least, the risk that any error can be considered as a provocation, it is absolutely pleonastic to represent as the operational readiness of the entire Task Force, severely tested this week by the continuous operation at all hours of the day, has been guaranteed by the professional preparation of the Italian staff and the logistical apparatus that supports them every day.
Particular mention certainly also goes to the Eurofighter aircraft that respond, thanks to the commitment mentioned above, always to the maximum of performance and safety.
Air Policing (AP) is a mission that NATO has had since the mid-fifties and consists of integrating the respective national systems of the member countries into a single NATO air and missile defense system.
Air Policing’s activity has been conducted since peacetime and consists of the continuous surveillance of NATO airspace and the identification of all possible violations of nato airspace. The Air White Eagle Task Force, reporting directly to the Joint Summit Operational Command (COVI), will continue to operate in Poland until 30 November.
