Poland, ANP

Together with the United Kingdom, Sweden is participating in NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing mission—an ongoing task that strengthens the Alliance’s collective ability to monitor and protect the airspace of Eastern Europe.

The commitment includes around 110 ground personnel, primarily from the Norrbotten Wing, but the squadron is also reinforced with members from other Swedish Air Force units.

The Swedish contingent in Poland includes pilots, air combat controllers, technicians, communications personnel, and other key functions. Together with British Typhoon fighter aircraft, they carry out daily readiness missions under the NATO flag.

Air Policing is NATO’s airspace surveillance and quick reaction alert system, which has been in operation since the early 1960s. The readiness operations help strengthen the territorial integrity of allied airspace and serve as a deterrent against airspace incursions. Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO introduced enhanced airspace surveillance—Enhanced Air Policing—which Sweden now takes part in. The readiness and surveillance missions are designed to respond to irregular air activity in the area of operations, including identifying, intercepting, and escorting aircraft that do not respond to calls or that move toward allied territory.