The eastern border or eastern flank of NATO is a chain of countries that has traditionally run from north through the Baltic republics to Bulgaria. The war in Ukraine has meant that the fears that spread in countries like Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania or Poland after the invasion of Crimea have multiplied exponentially, spread and increased in nations further south such as Bulgaria and Romania itself.
NATO, therefore, has redoubled its efforts and allocated even more resources, if possible, to guarding that flank. If it had already done so sensibly after 2014, now with the invasion of Ukrainian soil, the doctrine of “collective defense” has been taken further. An example of them is clearly the increase in power of the Enhanced Air Surveillance (eAP) operation.
The countries that have mainly provided air capabilities to support NATO’s eastern border allies have been Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Hungary, Poland and Canada. So-called aerial police operations are not new, but they have intensified significantly in the last decade and more, if possible, since the war in Ukraine.
Those countries that lacked combat air forces, such as the Baltic republics, saw allied countries patrolling their airspaces to provide security. Other nations that do have attack and interception aircraft such as Bulgaria or Romania, but that either depend to a large extent on aircraft of Soviet origin such as the Mig-29, or even the Mig-21, or even counting on Western aircraft such as For example, the Romanian F-16s, have needed to reinforce their fleet in the face of the growing threat.
When, in 2013-2014, the Atlantic alliance reconsidered that role of expeditionary force that it had had up to then all over the globe, carrying out gigantic operations such as those in Iraq or Afghanistan, Russia planned the so-called soft invasion of Crimea. This process of camouflaging Russian and pro-Russian agents promoting the secession of the historically resonant peninsula culminated in March 2014 with its illegal annexation to the Russian Federation.
NATO ended combat operations in Afghanistan precisely during that 2014, a few months after the secession of Crimea was consummated. Priorities changed rapidly.
The sting of fear that a far-reaching Russian maneuver such as the one that took place in that peninsula could be repeated, as unfortunately happened a year ago in Ukraine, sank deep into the countries of the alliance closest to Russia.
The past invasion of Ukrainian soil has led to the need to reinforce the southeast flank of NATO that borders Russia, with special attention to the Black Sea. And among the countries that are doing so is Spain, which currently has two operations to control and monitor the airspace of that allied country deployed in Romania, together with other partners such as the Italians, also present there, which cover other sectors.
There are currently eight Spanish F-18 fighters stationed at the Romanian Borcea airbase, located 150 kilometers east of Bucharest, the country’s capital.
Lieutenant Colonel Gonzalo Tortosa Méndez, head of the Viespe tactical air detachment, which has eight F-18s, explains from his office at the Borcea base that the mission is to “reinforce the presence of the alliance, within the defense collective, more if possible, since the conflict began”. “We tell those on the other side that we are here,” comments this military chief without saying the word Russia. It is another way of speaking of deterrence, an expression with resonances from the Cold War that has returned to specialized analysis and the media.
The Spanish fighters put their capacities at the service of Romania in the surveillance of its airspace and share these responsibilities alternately with the Romanian aircraft; the F-16 and the old Soviet-made Mig-21, still operational.
The tasks they carry out are similar to those of “a highway patrol, but in the air”, jokes a member of the contingent. In reality, the comparison is inaccurate when the aircraft are on call, in a reaction situation, since they have the obligation to get into the air within 15 minutes of the airspace intrusion alarm being issued. That responsibility is shared in turns with the Romanian personnel and apparatus. When not on duty, they conduct exercises or training missions.
The Spanish presence in the Black Sea is completed with the deployment of a powerful radar that monitors those waters and reaches Ukrainian soil. This is the Tigru detachment. The AN/TPS-43M sensor has been installed at the Schitu base.
