U.S Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Taylor Worley
The U.S. is sending F-22 Raptors to Poland as part of NATO’s “air shielding” mission. Earlier this month, Air Force F-35’s were deployed to Estonia. NATO’s air shielding mission is to deter and shield from any possible Russian aggression. Abbie Shull from Business Insider writes (abridged):
The US Air Force is sending F-22 Raptor fighter jets to Lask, Poland to support NATO’s “air shielding” mission and bolster deterrence against potential Russian threats.
The fifth-generation stealth fighter jets of the 90th Fighter Squadron, which just arrived at RAF Lakenheath, England from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, will soon make their way to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, Poland, according to a statement from US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.
NATO’s air shielding mission brings additional air and missile-defense capabilities beyond what was deployed prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February to NATO’s eastern borders. The Air Force said the air shielding provides a shield “from the Baltic to the Black seas.”
German Brig. Gen. Christoph Pliet, the deputy chief of staff operations at the NATO Allied Air Command headquarters, has said the aim of the mission is to “deter and shield against any possible Russian aggression,” Stars and Stripes reported previously. […]
The plan to boost NATO’s defenses in Europe came out of a summit in Madrid earlier this summer where leaders developed a new strategy for NATO’s “deterrence by reinforcement” model. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the new strategy is “the biggest overhaul [of] our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.”
