LEEUWARDEN, The Netherlands Ninety-one aircraft from 15 NATO states have ended up participating in Exercise Ramstein Flag, a two-week practice session of possible collective actions to an attack on a fellow member state.While the alliance had held exercises like this even before Russias 2022 major invasion of Ukraine, participants said the three-year war has revealed the alliance that it needs to prepare to safeguard its own area and send a signal to foes like Russia to hinder future aggression.For a variety of years, we didnt take excessive concern into defending NATO territory because we were not actually concerned that anything might happen, Col.
Martin Friis, an officer in NATOs air command from the Danish Air Force, said.NATO might not have much time to prepare before it has to put training into practice.
The Danish defense intelligence service cautioned February that Russia might introduce a big scale war in Europe within 5 years if it perceives the contient and NATO to be not able to mount a strong response.A key objective of the workout was to permit NATO air forces to practice running with each other and with ground forces in a variety of fight situations, including fighting for air superiority versus enemy fighter jets, electronic warfare and air defenses in an objected to environment.Before 2022, numerous NATO members prioritized maintaining their military self-reliance over having the ability to interact.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced a push for increasing standardization in 2024, which would enhance interoperability in between forces.Participating detachments likewise practiced counter-anti-access/area rejection techniques to break through opponent air defenses, which would be among the very first objectives of any deployment.If Moscow were to place surface-to-air rocket systems in Kaliningrad, Belarus, or near its tripoint border with Estonia and Latvia, it could obstruct allied aircraft over practically the totality of the Baltic states and Poland with 500 km-range Iskander ballistic missiles.Large-scale workouts like Ramstein Flag are likewise intended to deter potential assaulters by demonstrating the force they would be met if NATO came under attack.We know were being looked at, Col.
Friis informed The Moscow Times.
But also by our own audience.
They also want to feel safe, and they should.While the techniques practiced over the North Sea might be deployed in several theatres, the training involved discovering lessons from Ukraine, where little one-way kamikaze drones became a new hazard to cities and infrastructure.These are extremely cheap to make.
And if you do not have the ideal capability, theyre extremely costly to break down, Gen.
James Hecker, Commander of Allied Air Command, told reporters.
One of the things that weve learned is we have to have a cheaper solution to take some of these one-way attack automobiles down.Ramstein Flag 25 marked the very first time that Sweden took part in the annual workout as a complete member of NATO.
Along with Finland which participated 2023 has been particularly associated with strengthening the alliances security programs in the Arctic and Baltic Sea.Before, despite the fact that we trained together, we still had our own strategies and our own method of safeguarding ourselves.
Now we have actually ended up being an integrated part into the Alliance, and now we share the defense planning with our partners, and that moves the focus also for the Swedish Air Force, Lt.
Col.
Robert Persson told The Moscow Times.The cooperation and the sharing [were] extreme even before the intrusion of Ukraine.
It alters the viewpoint once you become a member, once you have access to whatever, and when youre also a part of the plans, rather than seeing the preparation from the outdoors, he said.Swedens detachment at Ramstein Flag was flying the JAS 39 Gripen, a locally produced fighter jet long considered by Kyiv as a prospect to modernize the Ukrainian Air Force.Compared to the F-16, the Gripen is easier to maintain and can operate without fully equipped airbases and long runways, which would be attractive targets for Russian missile attacks.
It is also cheaper to operate but can carry a smaller variety of weapons and there are fewer systems available.A $443 million support plan announced by Stockholm in September 2024 consisted of arrangements that would support a future delivery of Gripens.
Kyiv has actually not received any of the airplane yet, nor have actually any transfers been revealed.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraines Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated in February that negotiations for the transfer of C/D class Gripens to Ukraine were ongoing.