RAF deploys fighter jets and Expeditionary Air Wing personnel to EU's Romania.
Once again, Brexit Britain flies to the protection of the EU
On Saturday the Ministry of Defence announced that British Typhoon jets and Royal Air Force personnel are deploying to Romania. They will operate as part of NATO's 'Air Policing mission' for the Black Sea region, on the EU's eastern flank.
The RAF Typhoon jets are from No.3 (Fighter) Squadron and are normally based at RAF Coningsby. They will be conducting the NATO Air Policing mission from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on the Romanian Black Sea coast.
British troops on the ground in the EU
This mission does not only commit British fighter jets. It is also supported by the deployment of 150 RAF personnel currently based at RAF Wittering, who form the Headquarters of an Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW).
Members of the No 1 Expeditionary Logistics Squadron and No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron will also be sustaining the Typhoon jets during the mission.
Air policing is a purely defensive operation which began in 1961 during the Cold War. The mission ensures the security and integrity of all NATO Alliance's airspace. This is monitored by operations centres and where it is assessed that an interception is required, NATO aircraft can be scrambled as part of a Quick Reaction Alert.
The EU's weak record on defence
We have previously reported many times on the appallingly low levels of defence spending amongst EU countries. Two weeks ago the new German Chancellor finally announced that Germany's defence spending would increase from 1.2% to 2% of GDP – the NATO minimum.
For years Germany has consistently underspent on defence. The deficit is now so large that even if the German Chancellor had announced an increase to 10% of GDP in an effort to catch up, it would take years for the Germans to have an effective force.
Germany has a significant arms industry which sells to countries in the EU and around the world. Sadly it has not been able to supply its own armed forces sufficiently, due to insufficient federal budgets for decades.
And finally, who was in charge of German defence for six years?
Germany's Defence Minister from 2013 to 2019 was one Ursula von der Leyen. She was regularly described in the German media as Germany's least effective minister.
She was then parachuted into Brussels by Angela Merkel in 2019 and appointed as EU Commission President.
This article first appeared on Facts4EU
