The Italian Air Force and its F-35 fighter jets will patrol Baltic airspace for the next four months after taking over the mission from the Portuguese Air Force on Friday, August 1st reports Estonia’s ERR News.

NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission operates from Estonia and Lithuania and sees alliance members guard the airspace of those countries, plus Latvia. While all three Baltic countries have air forces, they do not have fighter jets capable of carrying out interceptions.

This is the fourth time the Italian Air Force will participate in the mission at Ämari Air Base. They were last deployed to Estonia in 2021.

Tuuli Duneton, deputy secretary general for defense policy at the Estonian Ministry of Defence, thanked the Portuguese mission for its “dedicated service”.

She said the air policing mission is a “clear sign of the unity of allies.”

NATO launched the air policing mission in Lithuania in 2004, and expanded it to Estonia after the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014. Alliance members operate on a four-month rotational basis.

Though Latvia does not normally host NATO’s jets, it is capable of doing so, as demonstrated last year when Estonia’s airbase was undergoing reconstruction and Latvia’s Lielvārde base stepped in as a temporary home.

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