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Italy performs all NATO IAP missions: NATO official

Xinhua, August 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italy supported the NATO Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission for a full eight months in a row, demonstrating its commitment to the group's defense, NATO's Allied command operation (ACO) said in a press release Thursday.

From Jan. 1 to April 30, the Italian Air Force had been the lead nation for the 38th rotation of the BAP mission over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

In a back-to-back detachment Italy has kept its Eurofighter Typhoon jets deployed at Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, from May 1 until Aug. 31, 2015.

During its deployment, the operational Italian Unit named Task Force Air (ITA-TFA) operated under the NATO concept "train as you operate," conducting real air missions alongside training missions.

"With this contribution to BAP, Italy has become the only Ally to have performed all NATO Interim Air Policing (IAP) missions in Slovenia, Albania, Iceland and the Baltics," said the ITA-TFA detachment commander Colonel Vito Cracas.

NATO launched BAP mission to protect the Baltic skies since 2004, when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the Alliance. The mission helps NATO's Baltic Allies, who do not have fighter aircraft of their own, guard their air space. Endit