Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has announced decision to deploy its F-35 multirole fighter aircraft to protect the vital routes of military supplies to Ukraine, Ukrinform reports citing the official statement.
"The military materiel donated to Ukraine by NATO countries must reach its destination safely. To this end, Dutch F-35 fighter jets will guard NATO airspace over Eastern Europe from 1 September to 1 December," reads the Dutch MoD notice.
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According to the Dutch Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans, the participation of the F-35 in air defense is a contribution to strengthening the security of the European continent. The Dutch F-35s contribute to deterring russia.
"It is extremely important that we contribute to the defense of NATO territory and the security of Europe," Minister Brekelmans said.
The operation is being carried out in cooperation with Norway: both countries are allocating their 5th-generation aircraft to participate in the so-called Quick Reaction Alert mode. This means that the fighters will be ready around the clock to intercept possible air threats in NATO’s area of responsibility.
"We are once again using our state-of-the-art capabilities to protect NATO’s eastern flank. By deploying these Dutch F-35s to monitor the airspace over Eastern Europe, we are protecting military equipment destined for Ukraine. We can also respond quickly to violations of NATO airspace. In this way, we literally keep the russian threat at bay. It has also recently become apparent in Estonia that the deployment of our F-35s is very effective against this [russian threat]," he said.
It is known that this Mission is coordinated by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).
As Defense Express reported, NATO, Ukraine tested means against russian guided aerial bombs, planed to deploy them this year. We also wrote, that Ukraine and NATO planned to test countermeasures against fiber-optic drones in Estonia under intriguing limits.
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