France Deploys Rafale Jets to Lithuania for Baltic Air Patrol

France will deploy four Rafale fighter jets to Lithuania starting Saturday as part of a four-month mission to safeguard Baltic airspace, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced.

The deployment is part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, launched in 2004 after Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined the alliance without their own fighter aircraft.

According to the ministry, the four jets and around 100 French Air Force personnel will be stationed at the Šiauliai air base in Lithuania.

This marks France’s 12th participation in the NATO mission since its inception, taking over the role from a Spanish unit.

The mission was reinforced in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, with the introduction of an enhanced air policing operation that includes additional deployments.

In the coming months, Romanian aircraft are also expected to be deployed to Šiauliai, while Portuguese jets will operate from Ämari air base in Estonia.

NATO aircraft are frequently scrambled to intercept Russian planes approaching alliance airspace.