Luftwaffe eurofighters and 'Ambar' detachment eurofighters join in combined Baltic warning service

• German & Spanish fighters from the 'Ambar' tactical air task force join together for combined air police early warning service operations in the Baltic Sea.

Spanish and German Eurofighters are already conducting combined air policing of allied airspace from the Ämari airbase in Estonia as part of a combined QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) mission.

For a week, alert aircraft and mixed teams of German and Spanish pilots and mechanics, belonging to the 71st Tactical Wing 'Richthofen' and the ESP '11th Wing' respectively, work and train together due to the interoperability of weapons systems and shared maintenance. Warning duties are performed in combined fighter pairs from both countries, available to be in flight to intercept unidentified aircraft in less than 15 minutes 24/7. Spanish and German pilots and engineers work as a single squadron on a NATO assignment.

Eurofighter maintenance is also coordinated, so that staff, equipment and weapons are shared and used on the aircraft regardless of the country of the aircraft, thanks to the interoperability of the allied weapons systems. This also reduces the logistical burden by sharing and not having to transport duplicate weaponry or auxiliary ground support equipment to the aircraft.

The 'Ambar' task force was activated on August 1st 2023 with eight Eurofighters from the '11th Wing' of the Morón AB to reinforce the air policing mission in the Baltic under the operational control of the Operations Command and is expected to be deactivated on December 1st 2023, as part of the process of regular rotations between allied countries for the defence and dissuasion of NATO airspace.