The Tigru Aerotactical Detachment celebrates its third anniversary in air policing operations

•  360 aviatos have been deployed to Romania since 2022, with the radar accumulating more than 22,000 hours of airspace surveillance

The ‘Tigru’ Aerotactical Detachment (DAT), made up of Air and Space Force aviators equipped with AN/TPS-43M early warning radar, has completed three years of deployment at the Romanian Air Force military base in Schitu. From there, it helps to ensure the security of allied airspace as part of NATO's eAP-RDR (enhanced Air Policing-Radar Romania) operation.

Since 2022, 360 aviators, grouped into nine successive contingents, have been deployed on Romanian soil, with the radar accumulating more than 22,000 hours of airspace surveillance under its responsibility.

Currently, DAT ‘Tigru’ consists of a team of 38 military personnel under the command of Commander Juan Pedro Segovia Vargas. “In 2022, the radar was deployed outside our borders for the first time in a real operation. Without a doubt, it posed an operational and logistical challenge. Three years later, we can celebrate this success of the Spanish Armed Forces.”

The AN/TPS-43M radar is a key piece of NATO's integrated air and missile defense, falling within the Alliance's Standing Defense Plan, Persistent Effort.

This comprehensive plan to protect the airspace on the eastern flank also includes other Spanish deployments in the region, such as the NASAMS Air Defense Unit (UDAA) in Latvia; the Patriot battery in Turkey; and the air detachments that carry out air policing missions in this region, such as the current DAT ‘Vilkas’ located in Lithuania.

In this way, Spain reaffirms its commitment to this mission, which not only strengthens cooperation with Romania and the Atlantic Alliance, but also makes Europe as a whole a safer place.