German Eurofighters to practice low-level flights in Estonia this week
Eurofighter aircraft of the German air force will conduct training flights over Estonian territory on Tuesday and Thursday. They will practice low-level flights down to an altitude of 152 m and remain far away from populated areas wherever they can.
To give you an idea how low this is: The visitors’ platform of the Tallinn TV tower is 170 m above the ground. The fighters will stay far away from populated areas, as the noise of the aircraft as well as their sudden appearance would considerably affect residents.
NATO member states allocate certain areas of their airspace for these training exercises. The condition is that they affect locals as little as possible, and are conducted in areas of the member state that are generally considered safe. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all have allocated territories for low-level flight training.
Following a decision of the North-Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO member state air forces have carried out the required air policing missions in the Baltic states since Mar. 29, 2004, when the three countries joined the alliance.
Securing Baltic airspace is part of NATO’s smart defense concept, according to which member states help each other save resources by carrying out joint missions as well as missions over allied territory.
The German air force (Luftwaffe) took over Baltic air security on Aug. 31 last year. In addition a unit of the Royal Netherlands Air Force is stationed on the Lithuanian air force base at Šiauliai.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
