Canada’s Air Force to begin NATO air policing mission in Romania this week

Canada’s Air Force will resume the air policing activity in Romania this week. According to the Romanian Ministry of Defence (MApN), the certification ceremony of the Royal Canadian Air Force detachment deployed at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base will be held on Thursday, August 4.

Over the next four months, six Canadian CF-188 Hornet aircraft and around 180 RCAF personnel (pilots and technical staff) will join the Romanian Air Force for enhanced air policing missions under NATO command. Also, two other CF-188 Hornet aircraft will participate, in the same period, in the exercises organized with NATO allies.

This is the Royal Canadian Air Force’s sixth rotation at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base in Romania, after those in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Also, the Canadian military executed another mission in Romania, at Câmpia Turzii, in 2014.

Such joint air policing missions contribute to the development of the reaction and deterrence capacity and help strengthen interoperability between the Romanian and Canadian Air Force, the MApN explained.

“The deployment of CF-188 Hornet aircraft to Romania is part of the implementation of the Action Plan to ensure NATO's operational capability on the Eastern flank of the Alliance in both the northern and southern areas and demonstrates NATO's unity and determination in response to security challenges,” the Romanian ministry said.

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