With a solemn ceremony held in the military base of Ämari, in Estonia, the "Baltic Eagle" mission, which saw men and women of the Task Force Air (TFA) 36 ° Stormo dell'Aeronautica Militare, officially ended after four months work to ensure the defense of the Baltic airspace, as part of NATO's Enhanced Air Policing activities.
Attending the solemn ceremony, which saw the Italian contingent, on Eurofighter aircraft Typhoon, pass the baton to the contingent of the French Air Force, on airplanes The Mirage,, the Minister of Defense of Estonia, Jüri Luik, as well as the Italian Ambassador to Estonia, Filippo Formica, the French Air Defense Commander, General Gal Zimmerman, and Brigadier General Dimopoulos representing NATO.
The Italian Defense was represented by the general by Nicola Lanza de Cristoforis, deputy commander of the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit, who, connecting to the words expressed by the Estonian Defense Minister, thanked the TFA staff for the excellent work done, underlining the great Italy's commitment to protecting the security of the Alliance and noting the high number of multinational training activities conducted during this period of operational employment. Proper emphasis was also placed on the fact that fourteen times the Italian aircraft took off in "scramble" mode to intercept, identify and accompany out of the airspace of the Alliance aircraft that engaged the Estonian airspace without the necessary authorizations , or without following the required identification procedures.
Particularly significant, then, the expressions of thanks of the Chief of Staff of the Estonian Defense, General Riho Terras, who wanted to underline, in addition to the significant operational capabilities demonstrated by the Italian contingent, the numerous beneficial activities - in particular, those carried out in favor of of orphanages - of which the Italian military have become protagonists.
Since January 9, following the operational passage with the Belgian contingent, the Italian detachment has ensured the integrity of NATO airspace for four months, strengthening the surveillance of the skies of the Baltic Republics - Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia - which do not possess sufficient capabilities and structures to independently ensure an air defense fully compliant with the standards required by the Atlantic Alliance.
Four Eurofighter fighter aircraft and about 110 men and women of the Air Force, together with two members of the Carabinieri, deployed at the only base of the Estonian Air Force, the military airport of Ämari, to ensure, therefore , NATO's Enhanced Air Policing activities. The difficulties faced are not negligible, mainly due to the fact of having to operate at such a great distance from the motherland and, above all, to the prohibitive climatic conditions for a large part of the period of use, with temperatures often at 20 degrees below zero.
Nonetheless, the full operation of Italian fighter jets was ensured by an efficiency rate close to 100%, demonstrating the great reliability of the aircraft and the goodness of the maintenance logistic structure.
