Portuguese fighter pilots securing Baltic skies from an airbase in Estonia.
Synopsis
The Portuguese Air Force is securing the skies over and around Estonia as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.
Fighter pilots and aircrew arrived at Ämari Air Base in late May, replacing an earlier Portuguese detachment that began its duties in April and assuming responsibility for their four F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets. That deployment was the first time Portuguese fighters have operated out of Estonia.
Because the Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – lack supersonic fighters capable of conducting interceptions, NATO Allies provide jets on a rotating basis. Based in Lithuania with an additional detachment in Estonia, the Baltic Air Policing mission is on standby to respond to air traffic anomalies. These can be civilian aircraft that have lost communication with air traffic controllers, or Russian military aircraft that refuse to identify themselves or respond to hails.
NATO Air Policing is a peacetime mission that is carried out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Footage includes shots of Portuguese Air Force F-16s launching on training missions, as well as an interview with the detachment commander.
Transcript
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – PORTUGUESE AIR FORCE PILOT APPROACHING F-16 FIGHTER JET AND CLIMBING IN
(00:24) VARIOUS SHOTS – F-16 FIGHTER JETS PREPARE TO TAKE OFF ON TRAINING MISSION
(00:40) VARIOUS SHOTS – FIGHTERS TAXI FOR TAKE-OFF
(01:26) VARIOUS SHOTS – FIGHTERS TAKE OFF
(01:35) VARIOUS SHOTS – FIGHTERS LAND
(01:46) VARIOUS SHOTS – FIGHTERS TAXI BACK TO HANGARS
(02:04) WIDE SHOT – PILOT DESCENDS FROM FIGHTER
(02:09) CLOSE UP – PORTUGAL FLAG PATCH ON SHOULDER OF PILOT PREPARING FOR MISSION
(02:12) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Portuguese Air Force Lieutenant Colonel João Gonçalves, detachment commander, Baltic Air Policing in Estonia
“So I’m Lieutenant Colonel João Gonçalves, I go by ‘Splinter.’ I’m the commander of the Portuguese F-16 enhanced Air Policing mission here at Ämari Air Force Base.”
(02:22) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Portuguese Air Force Lieutenant Colonel João Gonçalves, detachment commander, Baltic Air Policing in Estonia
“So we are here to protect the Baltic airspace and we are on a posture of a Quick Reaction Alert phase and we are ready to scramble our F-16s in case there is a need to do that.”
(02:36) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Portuguese Air Force Lieutenant Colonel João Gonçalves, detachment commander, Baltic Air Policing in Estonia
“So anytime we have, for example, a Russian airplane that is crossing international airspace and is not responding to ATC [Air Traffic Control] commands, then in that case you need to scramble, go there, intercept the airplanes, interrogate them and provide further information to NATO.”
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