News United States Air Force
 US Air Force F-22 Raptors deter aggression over Baltic skiesPublished May 14, 2023
                        
                        By Capt. Paige Skinner
                        
                        
                        U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa
                **AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia (AFNS) --**
                U.S. Air Force fifth-generation fighters supporting NATO Allied Air Command’s Air Shielding mission along the Eastern Flank executed an **Agile Combat Employment** deployment to Ämari Air Base, Estonia, May 8, to deter aggression in the Baltic Sea region.
In early April, **Joint Base Langley-Eustis'** **94th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron** deployed 12 **F-22 Raptors** to Poland’s Powidz Air Base in support of the critical mission, which augments the alliance’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Counter-Integrated Air Defense System capabilities to safeguard the nearly 1,500-mile-long border along NATO’s Eastern Flank.U.S. Air Force fifth-generation fighters supporting NATO Allied Air Command’s Air Shielding mission along the Eastern Flank executed an Agile Combat Employment deployment to Ämari Air Base, Estonia, May 8, 2023, to deter aggression in the Baltic Sea region.Staff Sgt. Tom Savea, 154th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron loading standardization crew member, and Senior Airman Paulo Amaya, 15th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons load crew member, prepare an AIM-120 missile to be loaded onto an F-22 Hawaiian Raptor during an Agile Combat Employment training exercise at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Hawaii, Sept. 8, 2021. U.S. Air Force fifth-generation fighters supporting NATO Allied Air Command’s Air Shielding mission along the Eastern Flank executed an Agile Combat Employment deployment to Ämari Air Base, Estonia, May 8, 2023, to deter aggression in the Baltic Sea region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Makensie Cooper)
            
            
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The Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are situated on a critical air, land and sea corridor, which requires a coordinated approach between allies to maintain and sustain international freedom of maneuver throughout the region.
A Spanish NASAMS air defense system currently deployed to Latvia provides ground-based air defense capabilities in close coordination with the Latvian Control and Reporting Center. Also deployed to Estonia, Royal Air Force Typhoons are conducting NATO’s peacetime Air Policing mission. The ability of the U.S. to rapidly augment other deployed units with fifth-generation fighters expands the alliance’s ability to integrate across all domains.
An effective IAMD structure incorporates air, land, sea, space and cyber domains to provide full-spectrum awareness of airspace faced with complex adversary threats. As a highly maneuverable stealth aircraft, the F-22 fifth-generation fighter is designed to rapidly project dominance, penetrate evolving threats, and achieve air superiority.LR 



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