Britain's Royal Air Force to deploy four Eurofighter aircraft and 150 troops to Romania

The British Royal Air Force will deploy four Eurofighter aircraft and about 150 troops (pilots and technical staff) to Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase from May 1 to August 31, according to a statement from the Romanian National Defense Ministry. While in Romania, the British aircraft and troops will participate in air police missions with the Romanian Air Force. “The dislocation of RAF aircraft to Romania is part of the Action Plan’s implementation to ensure NATO’s operational capability on the eastern flank of the Alliance, both in the north and in the south. Thus, increasing the measures on air police missions have been conducted simultaneously or by rotation so far, to secure the airspace of the Baltic States, Benelux, Iceland and Bulgaria,” reads the statement from the Ministry of Defense. The joint air police missions are to contribute to the development of the deterrence and response capacities, and to strengthening the interoperability between the Romanian and British air forces. U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm said last week that Romania would host a large-scale military exercise in July, which will bring together some 30,000 troops from NATO member states. Some 500 American soldiers with tanks come to Romania Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Wikipedia)