Detachment ‘Vilkas 19’ finishes its Baltic Air Police Mission

·        After four months of deployment, Spanish soldiers have performed 25 “alfa scramble” missions, 500 dismissals and more than 700 flight hours

Spanish soldiers of Detachment “Vilkas 19” have finished their deployment in the Baltic Air Police (BAP, in English) after having been deployed for four months at the Šiauliai base, in Lithuania, on the occasion of their surveillance mission of the Northern side of the Alliance.

The Chief of the Hungarian and Spanish Armed Forces have symbolically handed out the key of the Baltic airspace at the relay ceremony held at the Lithuanian base. During this celebration, Lithuanian medals of honour have been awarded to the detachment chief and two other Spanish pilots.

Thus, the EF-18M of the Air Force finish their mission following an intense air activity which includes 25 “alfa scrable” mission, 500 dismissals and more than 700 flight hours.

Furthermore, the detachment has participated in NATO (‘Baltic Operations’, ‘Ramstein Alloy’…) and multinational missions (‘Finish Swedish Training Event’), as well as in bilateral training missions, mainly along with the Hungarian JAS-39 ‘Gripen’ and ‘Close Air Support’ (CLAS) missions with the NATO eFP mission.

“All these achievements have been possible thanks to the professional and highly-qualified team available: all of you have levelled up the Air Force to the highest standards”, the Force Lieutenant Colonel, Alberto Valero highlighted in the relay ceremony, presided by the Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Defence, Vytautas Umbrasas.

General Jeffrey Lee Harrigian, Commander of the Allied Air Command, the Spanish Ambassador in Lithuania, José María Robles Fraga and a Spanish delegation headed by the Operation Command Chief Staff, General Francisco Braco Carbó have also been present in this act.

Ambassador Robles has remembered Commander Francisco Marín, who passed away last week in an accident occurred in the Mar Menor (Murcia, Spain).

Detachment ‘Vilkas 19’

Detached ‘Vilkas 19’ has been comprised of 130 member of the Air Force, coming from Ala 12 wing, the Supporting Detachment Squad, the Air Control Mobile Group, the Zaragoza Supporting Detachment Air Medical Unit, the Management Computer Centre and the Economic Affairs Management. At the Control Centre of Karmelava, in Kaunas, two air traffic controllers and two Datas Link operators have been additionally deployed.

From 2004, NATO performs Baltic Air Police missions to cover these countries, which do not rely on an Air Force with this capability. Spain has taken part in the Air Force aircrafts deployment with defence capabilities in the Baltic States and has contributed to the BAP to enhance the security conditions in the region in the 2006 years, and from 2015 to 2019.

With this mission, the Spanish Armed Forces contribute to the commitment with our allies, what can be trusted as a reliable partner.