At any moment of the day or night, at least two fighter jets from Feteşti Air Base are ready to take off on an emergency mission. Romania performs air police missions exclusively with recently acquired F-16s, and not for long. In addition, NATO has for several years alternately sent other allies to support airspace security missions in the east of the alliance. Now it was the turn of the Turks, who also came to Romania with F-16 planes, an “advantage” even Turkish pilots admit.

• Watch the HotNews.ro video report below on Romanian-Turkish cooperation in NATO’s enhanced air policing missions, as well as how the interception of a potentially hostile aircraft takes place, filmed directly on board the target aircraft.

Air control missions are important in peacetime, but in recent years, amid rising tensions on NATO’s eastern flank, they have become truly important. Romania recently phased out its aging MiG-21s and switched to all its air missions by fielding the newer F-16s.

However, NATO sends a squadron of aircraft to Romania on a rotational basis every 4-6 months to assist with enhanced air policing missions. Currently, there is a detachment from Turkey with F-16 aircraft at the 86th air base in Fetesh.

Air policing also means that at any time of the day, some aircraft must be on the starting block, ready to take off at any time.

Solution “fight“but it comes from Spain, from the NATO center in Torrejon, which is responsible for the alliance’s airspace in this part of Europe. Minutes pass from the moment of alarm to take-off.

“Scramble is performed in the shortest possible time. A maximum of 15 minutes. 24/7, 365 daysOctavian Palferents, one of the young pilots who represent the new generation of Romanian military aviators, those who grew up on the F-16, says firmly.

• From aboard a C-27J Spartan military transport aircraft that played the role of an aircraft that lost contact with civil authorities, a situation called specialists CommLossI could see and film how the Romanian and Turkish F-16 planes, armed and ready for anything, intercepted over Beregan.

Turkish pilot: “We act here as if we are defending our country”

On the ground, at the base in Fetesh (or Borcha, as it is also called), Turkish pilots praise the professionalism of the Romanians and admit that for them also in the Black Sea there were and still are missions to intercept some Russian planes. constant.

“We are used to such hostilities in our country. In Romania, we have no problem always being ready in 15 minutes“, – says one of the majors of the Turkish detachment, who, however, wished not to give his name.

And how did they cooperate with the Romanians?

“Fantastic, fantastic. We are very close, we have almost the same culture. We get along very well because we act here as if we are defending our country“, the Turkish pilot admits.

There is another important thing to mention: the advantage is that both Air Forces use the same type of aircraft in these missions. Even the Turks say.

“We speak the same language, as we call it. Our procedures are almost the same. The Romanian staff is very well trained and very capable. For our detachment in Romania, this is an advantage“, the Turkish major admits.

In addition, community between aircraft of the same type and a similar logistics chain, which is already well established in Romania after our country switched to the F-16, also means a faster preparation of these aircraft so that they are ready for the mission at any time.

• Watch HotNews.ro’s video report on Romanian-Turkish cooperation in NATO’s enhanced air policing missions, as well as the interception of a potentially hostile aircraft, filmed directly from the target aircraft.