Air Tactical Detachment VILKAS participates in 'Ramstein Alloy 24-1' exercise.

• Detached Staff of NATO's Allied Air Command Communications (AIRCOM/A10) has checked the work of the Spanish contingent.

Spanish personnel deployed in the 'Vilkas' Air Tactical Detachment have participated in the exercise 'Ramstein Alloy 24-1' which has been carried out over Baltic airspace. Estonia acted as the host country. This is the first in a series of annual NATO exercises scheduled mainly for multinational and inter-army training of assets involved in the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission.

This exercise helps to improve the degree of training and interoperability between aircrafts from different countries (fighters, transport, rescue service, in-flight early warning, in-flight refuelling planes), air traffic control centres and other means, such as the Spanish NASAMS battery detached in Latvia. The final aim is to maintain the appropriate degree of defence and deterrence of any threat in NATO airspace. 

This edition involved the participation of air assets from eight countries: Germany, Spain, Estonia, Italy, Poland, Portugal - and for the first time as members of the Alliance since its recent accession - Finland and Sweden, countries that had already been collaborating as "partenaires". The different scheduled missions were complex to coordinate, especially in a hostile winter environment that required adapting machines and men to the needs of the exercise with flexibility and resilience. 

The 'Vilkas' Detachment has participated in three simulated missions of attack to NASAMS batteries on the ground and air combat between fighters. To execute these missions, the Spanish A400M was used for in-flight refuelling.  

The professionalism demonstrated by the Vilkas Detachment staff was witnessed by the communication team from NATO's Allied Air Command (AIRCOM/A10), which was able to exchange impressions and first-hand information with the Spanish and Portuguese detachment commanders and the Siualiai Air Base chief of staff.