NATO mobilized the largest allied air presence this year during two training missions between the Baltic states and Romania.
Of WITH THEM stepped up March 4 and 5, 2026 conducted a large-scale military air exercise in which forces from various allied countries were brought together along the eastern flank of the Alliance. The operations were part of the initiative Eastern Sentryled by it Allied Air Command (AIRCOM)with the aim of strengthening air defenses and demonstrating joint response capabilities to potential threats.
According to the Alliance, it is about the largest collaboration of allied air forces this year within operations of the type Flexible Deterrent Option (FDO)carefully planned deterrence activities designed to demonstrate unity and military preparedness.
C-A2AD training in Romania
The first mission took place on March 4 near the Mihail Kogălniceanu-luchtbasis in Romania. The exercise focused Counter Anti-Access/Area Denial (C-A2AD)operations, intended to train allied forces in neutralizing enemy air defense systems and ensuring operational freedom in the airspace.
Participating in the mission were:
- Mirage 2000Dfighter planes from France
- Eurofighter Typhoondevices from Germany
- F/A-18 Hornetplanes from Spain
- F-16hunters from Romania
Germany currently has a detachment at the Romanian base in support of the reinforced NATO air policing missionwhile Spain uses the location to promote the concept of Agile Combat Employment (ACE) to train, which assumes more dispersed and flexible air operations.
The mission also included support aircraft, including one French A330 MRTT and a Spanish A400M configured for air-refueling operations. Romanian ground systems participated by providing realistic threat scenarios.
The entire operation was coordinated by it Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) of NATO Torrejón, Spain.
Multi-domain exercise in the Baltic region
The next day, March 5the focus of operations shifted to Northern Europe, from the Baltic Sea to Finland. The exercise made use of the concept F2T2 (Find, Fix, Track and Target)which locates, identifies, tracks and ultimately neutralizes a target in a complex operational environment.
The mission deployed military resources eight NATO countries together and integrated capabilities from different domains:
- air resources
- ground system capabilities
- cyber capabilities
- space capabilities
Participating resources included:
- Mirage 2000Dfighters from France
- F/A-18 Hornetaircraft from Finland
- A330 MRTTtanker aircraft from France and the multinational MRTT unit
Air control and combat centers out Poland, Estonia and Finland provided ground-based command and control, while ground-based air defense systems Estonia, the United Kingdom and the United States also participated in the training.
It Canadian Joint Operations Command provided capabilities for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).
This mission was coordinated by the NATO CAOC in Uedem, Germanywhich is responsible for controlling the airspace in the northern region.
NATO’s new air defense strategy
The initiative Eastern Sentry is part of the extensive NATO surveillance activity known as enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA) and represents a new model for Alliance air defense.
Rather than relying solely on fixed bases or permanent patrols, the concept focuses on one dynamic and distributed postureallowing air forces to move quickly along the entire eastern flank — of the Baltic states and Poland to the Black Sea.
According to NATO, this approach increases it situational awarenessit improves coordination among allies and strengthens the capacity to respond quickly to emerging threats.
The two missions carried out in March mainly aimed to:
- to increase interoperability between allied forces
- refine operational tactics and procedures
- integrate multi-domain operations into complex scenarios
The Alliance wants her with this air and missile defense posture strengthen and ensure the continued protection of Member States’ airspace.
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Source and images: WITH THEM. This content was created using AI and reviewed by the editors.
