Twelve U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, forward deployed, Aug. 4, 2022 to the 32nd Tactical Air Base, Łask, Poland, to support NATO Air Shielding.

Follow Air Recognition on Google News at this link

U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor has arrived to the 32nd Tactical Air Base, Łask, Poland, to support NATO Air Shielding.The aircraft are from the 90th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Wing, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and will be supporting Air Shielding as the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (Picture source: USAF)

As part of NATO’s plan to bolster its collective defense posture, the 90th Fighter Squadron will take over the mission from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing, which has been executing the coalition’s Air Policing mission since their arrival in theater on May 2, 2022.

The F-35 Lightening IIs of the158th FW completed their 3-month rotational deployment at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in support of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission along the Eastern flank and returned to Vermont Aug. 3, 2022.

USAFE’s ability to support and integrate with NATO’s air shielding missions continually hardens the alliance’s solidarity, collective resolve, and ability to adapt to a dynamic warfighting environment.

“This F-22 deployment will add significant capabilities to our support of NATO’s collective defense,” said Hecker. “The Raptors ability to perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions will exponentially increase the warfighting capability along the Eastern Flank as this rotation supports NATO’s Air Shielding.”

The Air Shielding mission is designed to increase the air and missile defense posture along the Eastern Flank of NATO’s alliance and is purely a defensive mission to shield and protect allied territory and populations, and is a key component of NATO’s Deterrence and Defense posture.

Six F-15E Strike Eagles from the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, U.K., are being forward deployed to Łask Air Base, Poland, to temporarily support the U.S. contribution to the NATO Air Shielding mission. The F-22 Raptors will ultimately take over that mission.

“Our Airmen are well trained and ready to assist our NATO allies,” said Hecker. “Our Airmen’s ability to adapt, support and integrate with NATO’s Air Shielding mission shows our ability to respond to an ever-changing dynamic warfighting environment and strengthen the alliance.”

The Raptor is a critical component of the global strike Task Force, and is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances to defeat threats. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. The F-22 possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot, and kill air-to-air and cruise missile threats.