NEW YORK, January 12. /TASS/. NATO has asked Turkey to send F-16 fighter jets to patrol airspace over the Baltic countries several months earlier than scheduled, Bloomberg said, citing sources.
According to the sources, NATO plans to use these aircraft as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission and conduct rotation in Estonia in a period from August to December 2026. The North Atlantic Alliance is enhancing its defenses due to Russia’s actions, the sources claim.
Initially, Turkey planned to deploy its fighter jets in Romania from December 2026 through March 2027. So far, according to the agency, Turkey has made no decision on NATO’s request.
Airspace over the Baltic countries, which have no air forces of their own, is controlled by their NATO allies. Since 2004, NATO fighter jets have been deployed on the rotation basis to the Zokniai base in Lithuania and to the Amari airbase in Estonia since 2014.