Baltic Air Policing for the Fourth Time

The personnel of the 69th rotation of the Hungarian Defence Forces Baltic Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Detachment – stationed in a lead nation role at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania – are about to start performing air policing tasks for the fourth time as of August 1, the Hungarian defense website honvedelem.hu reports.

The airmen are already preparing on the spot for executing the tasks of the next four months, with several of them serving at the base not for the first time.

“There are periods when service goes beyond the daily tasks. When we not only carry out commands, but also take a part of the homeland with us in the national insignia, the colors, the uniform and our sense of duty,” Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári, Deputy Chief, HDF Defence Staff emphasized at the Kecskemét Air Base on July 23, at the farewell ceremony of the personnel preparing for the 69th rotation of the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) Mission.

As the Deputy Chief of Defence noted, a lot of operational factors have changed since the first rotation with Hungarian participation in the BAP Mission in 2015. “The international environment is full of conflicts and has become uncertain and fragile. Today, airspace violation and irregular air traffic are no longer theoretical issues,” he pointed out in his speech.

“It is not only Hungarian airspace that is safeguarded by the Gripens of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Within the framework of our regional assumed role, we have been protecting Slovenia’s airspace for more than a decade, and as of 2024, Slovakia and Croatia have also been protected by the Hungarian air force. This is more than a question of capability: this is friendship and trust. We consider this task as an obligation rather than assistance,” Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári stressed.