NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
French Mirage 2000-5Fs deploy for fifth Baltic Air Policing mission
For the fifth time since the initiative’s inception in 2004, Mirage 2000-5Fs from the French Air and Space Force have once again deployed to Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, where they will support NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission from December 1
NATO joins Wedgetail revolution as it confirms E-3A Sentry fleet successor
NATO revealed on November 15 that Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail has been selected to succeed the alliance’s ageing E-3A Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) fleet, which entered operational service with the organisation in 1982
Canadian Hornet fleet deemed ‘not credible’ as it suffers instructor shortage
A report by the UK-based RUSI – commissioned by the Canadian Department of National Defence – was leaked to The Globe and Mail newspaper, revealing that its author, Professor Justin Bronk, had assessed that Canada’s CF-188A/B Hornet fighter fleet may be unable to meet its commitments, judging that it was “not credible in a NATO context against many of the higher-end mission sets”
USAF B-1Bs return to RAF Fairford amid rising global tensions
Four B-1B Lancers and more than 100 personnel from the USAF’s 7th Bomb Wing (BW) at Dyess AFB, Texas, have deployed to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, as part of the long-planned Bomber Task Force-Europe 24-1 deployment
Sweden open to sending Gripens to Ukraine after joining NATO
On October 6, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson announced that a transfer of JAS 39C/D Gripen multi-role fighters to Ukraine could be on the cards, although “domestic security reasons” mean that any such transfer “would be conditional on Sweden first becoming a member of NATO,” and thus covered by NATO’s collective defence commitments
Belgium agrees to send outgoing F-16s to Ukraine from 2025
Brussels has pledged that Belgium will in fact join Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands in transferring some of its outgoing F-16AM/BM (MLU) Fighting Falcon fighters to Ukraine, though the first of an undisclosed number of jets will not be handed over to Kyiv until 2025
All eyes on Ramstein as NATO nations gathered for fifth Ukraine summit
As defence ministers and military officials flew in for a NATO meeting on Ukraine, Babak Taghvaee was at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to witness the comings and goings
UK MOD told to reverse cut in E-7A Wedgetail fleet size by British MPs
The decision by the UK MOD to cut its E-7A Wedgetail AEW1 fleet from five aircraft to three is “perverse” and must be reversed, the findings of an aviation procurement investigation has said
F-15EX eyed as solution for Poland’s air dominance requirements
In light of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia War and in line with its newly inflated defence budget, Poland is actively evaluating the purchase of a fleet of F-15EX Eagle IIs through the US DOD’s Foreign Military Sales programme to meet its requirement for a new air dominance fighter, according to Boeing
Germany reveals delivery, fielding details for future Chinook fleet
Berlin has announced more details relating to its acquisition of 60 CH-47F Block II Chinook heavy-lift tactical transport helicopters as the nation pushes forward with plans to replace the German Air Force’s ageing CH-53G Sea Stallion fleet