{"id":18906,"date":"2021-07-01T19:23:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T19:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/01\/our-adversaries-exploit-our-seams-trinational-deal-seeks-stronger-air-policing-coordination\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:47:18","slug":"our-adversaries-exploit-our-seams-trinational-deal-seeks-stronger-air-policing-coordination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2021\/07\/01\/our-adversaries-exploit-our-seams-trinational-deal-seeks-stronger-air-policing-coordination\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Our adversaries exploit our seams\u2019: Trinational effort seeks stronger air-policing coordination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Correction: This story was updated to clarify details about the status of the agreement\u2019s signing.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONSTANTA, Romania \u2014 On a bright, blustery afternoon about 14 miles from the western coast of the Black Sea, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter jet operated by the Romanian Air Force raced down the runway at Mihail Kog\u0103lniceanu International Airport and up into the clouds. It was quickly followed by two Eurofighter Typhoon jets, one operated by the German Air Force and the other by the British Royal Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aircraft were participating in a \u201ctango scramble,\u201d a training effort to demonstrate how the three nations would activate their forces within 15 minutes of notice in response to an unidentified military aircraft entering national airspace<\/a>. The mission falls under NATO\u2019s enhanced Air Policing South effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From June 28 to July 9, two German Eurofighter Typhoons are policing the skies over the Black Sea region, side by side with British Typhoons and Romanian MiG-21s. The German Luftwaffe aircraft will rely on maintainers, refuelers and other servicers from Britain\u2019s 121 Expeditionary Air Wing, and the two nations\u2019 jets will scramble in a mixed formation during missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith our enhanced U.K.-German NATO air-policing mission and our advanced concept of interoperability, we have reached a new level of cooperation within the NATO air power community,\u201d German Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said at a July 1 ceremony on the airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the goal?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the ceremony\u2014held on the 60th anniversary of the NATO air policing mission\u2014Gerhartz and Royal Air Force Deputy Commander of Operations Air Marshal Gerry Mayhew jointly committed to promoting Eurofighter Typhoon interoperability between their two nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur adversaries exploit our seams, and they exploit our legal, moral and ethical thresholds for response,\u201d Mayhew said during the ceremony. \u201cThat is why integration \u2014 and interoperability \u2014 is so critical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerhartz noted that such integrated partnerships were sometimes a challenge for NATO allies: While the Typhoon was a multinational program, led by the Eurofighter consortium that included Airbus Defence and Space, BAE Systems, and Leonardo, the aircraft underwent separate configurations and added different weapon systems and sensor packages once each nation received its platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\t