VILNIUS (Sputnik) — Portugal is taking over the Baltic Air Policing mission in Lithuania on Wednesday, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense said.
"The Portuguese Air Force are for the third time taking part in the NATO air mission in the Baltic states. The current Portuguese deployment will comprise 100 service personnel, including pilots, technicians, medical personnel, support personnel and communication specialists," the ministry said in a statement.
Portugal is to deploy four F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighters to replace four Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets deployed on the previous mission since January. The Portuguese jets will be based at the Siauliai air base.
![Airmen, aircraft to support NATO policing mission in Baltics [Image 1 of 2] - Sputnik International](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102414/23/1024142382_0:196:1600:900_600x0_80_0_0_5d216cc07a62578aa11a6097762c73a2.jpg "Airmen, aircraft to support NATO policing mission in Baltics [Image 1 of 2]")
The new mission takes over from Belgian and Spanish jets that had been deployed to the Baltic states in January 2016.
The three Baltic states comprising Latvia, Estonia and neighboring Lithuania do not possess air patrol capabilities. Since joining NATO in 2004, the three Baltic countries' airspace has been defended by a rotating NATO mission.
