Royal Canadian Air Force sends five Hornet airplanes on enhanced air policing mission in Romania

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) will participate in air policing missions in Romania over the next four months.

According to a press statement released by the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN), the Canadian Royal Air Force is sending approximately 135 personnel and five RCAF CF-188 Hornets to 57th Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu, Constanta, Romania, to participate in NATO Enhanced Air Policing from September to December 2018.

The Air Task Force (ATF) in Romania is composed mainly of personnel from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, supported primarily by members of 2 Wing (the RCAF's air expedition wing) and 3 Wing, all based in Bagotville, Quebec.

"The joint missions will contribute to the development of the reaction and deterrence capacity as well as to the enhancement of interoperability between the Romanian Air Force and the Canadian Air Force," said MApN.

RCAF on Wednesday took over the Enhanced Air Policing mission from the UK Royal Air Force at a ceremony hosted by the Romanian Air Force 57th Air Base.

The ceremony took place in the presence of the British ambassador to Romania Andrew Noble, and Canadian ambassador Kevin Hamilton, with MApN being represented by Chief of the Air Staff Viorel Pana.

NATO Air Policing is a peacetime mission that aims to preserve the security of Alliance airspace. RCAF takes part in this mission on a rotation basis with other NATO nations as part of the Operation Reassurance.

Operation Reassurance refers to the RCAF's activities in support of NATO's assurance and deterrence measures through the provision of military capabilities for training, exercises, demonstrations of collective resolve and assigned NATO tasks.

This is RCAF's fourth mission in Romania, after the ones conducted in 2014 at the 71st Air Base General Emanoil Ionescu at Campia Turzii, and in 2016 and 2017 at the 57th Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu.