Belgium adds six F-16s to Baltic air defense mission

Belgium will deploy about 100 personnel and six F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to reinforce the Baltic air defense mission, LRT reported, citing Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence. They will join the Italian air force unit currently protecting the region’s airspace.

A welcome ceremony for the Belgian contingent is scheduled for Thursday at the Lithuanian Air Force Aviation Base in Šiauliai. Attendees are expected to include Lithuanian Air Force commander Antanas Matutis, Italian Ambassador to Lithuania Emanuele de Maigret and Šiauliai Deputy Mayor Justinas Švėgžda.

NATO leaders agreed at a summit in Ankara in July to transform the alliance’s air policing mission in Europe into an air defense mission. The change expanded NATO military command’s authority to respond more quickly and firmly to a wider range of aerial threats, including aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It also gives the command more flexibility to concentrate air defense capabilities where they are most needed, the ministry said.

Italy began the first rotation of the NATO air defense mission in Lithuania in late July, deploying four Eurofighter Typhoon jets. The mission operates from Lithuania and Estonia.

The ministry said the mission supports collective defense and the readiness of allies to respond to aerial threats in the Baltic region.