Britain and Germany will conduct joint NATO air policing exercises in Estonia for the first time, Sky News reported on March 6.
U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, as cited by Sky News, called it a demonstration of NATO "unity" and said that the 300 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel will be "undertaking a vital role, ensuring the security of Europe's skies and bolstering NATO's presence in eastern Europe."
The British air force will work alongside Typhoon jets from the German Air Force on live "integrated" missions, according to Sky News.
A Feb. 28 press release on NATO's website states that the German Air Force, which is currently deployed in Estonia, will transfer control of the NATO air policing mission to the RAF come April.
NATO air policing is "a peacetime mission that aims to preserve the security of Alliance airspace." According to NATO, the mission in the Baltics has been operating since 2004, when Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined the military alliance.
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