News item | 05-03-2025 | 09:29
2 Dutch F-35 combat aircraft yesterday brought down several practice drones above the Baltic Sea. They did that by AIM-9 Sidewinder-Rockets to fire. It was a training in a controlled airspace and happened on the initiative of the Netherlands and Estonia.
The Baltic State supplied the drones. For the pilots it meant a great opportunity to train tactics. For example, switching off multiple drones at the same time. So -called counter-Drone missions are part of the Dutch F-35-task package within NATO.
‘Live’ training important
It is important to bring down unmanned systems’live‘To train. They pose a real threat. More and more often they are used as a weapon.
That turned out again last week. Then the Dutch F-35s helped keep Polish airspace safe. The reason was a major Russian attack with missiles and drones on Ukraine, which borders Poland.
Intercept
Since the end of last year, the Air Force has stationed 4 F-35s in Estonia to keep Russian aircraft outside the NATO-East flank. It detachment has between 90 and 150 soldiers. The Dutch fighter aircraft now took action 10 times to intercept Russian planes. Total they identified 18.