The British Royal Air Force (RAF) will deploy four Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft to participate in the Nato Southern Air Policing mission, which is due to take place over the Black Sea.
Typhoons from Royal Air Force 3 (Fighter) Squadron will be deployed to Romania from May to ensure the security of Nato airspace.
The UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon noted that the UK is the first nation to provide jets to this Nato mission, which forms part of the UK’s increasing support to allies following the recent deployment of British troops to Estonia as part of Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence.
Fallon said: “The UK is stepping up its support for Nato’s collective defence from the north to the south of the alliance. With this deployment, RAF planes will be ready to secure Nato airspace and provide reassurance to our allies in the Black Sea region.”
Typhoons from RAF Coningsby will be based at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in south-east Romania for a period of up to four months.
The RAF jets will work alongside the Romanian Air Force during the deployment in order to police the skies over the Black Sea.
The Royal Air Force 3 (Fighter) Squadron recently took tours of Sierra Leone as part of counter-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria.
Fallon added: “Our military is among the best prepared in the world to tackle cyber threats,with capabilities and skills integrated into the Army, Royal Navy, and the RAF, but in such a dynamic environment we must continually test and enhance our skills.
“We’re interested not just in defensive but also in offensive cyber; those who threaten cyber-attacks against us need to know the risk they’re running.”
The UK Ministry of Defence has committed to invest £1.9bn in developing cyber capabilities and skills across all Government departments, in addition to establishing the new National Cyber Security Centre, the Defence Cyber School at Shrivenham and a Cyber Operations Centre at Corsham.
