F-16s from Aviano AB, Italy, deployed to Ämari AB, Estonia, for several weeks of cooperative forward air control training with Estonian air force joint terminal attack controllers. The pilots of Aviano’s 510th Fighter Squadron will practice acting as airborne forward air controllers and work with Estonian JTACs at the nearby Tapa Range, according to an Aviano release. “The FAC(A) mission is one of the most challenging missions we engage in,” said 510th FS Commander Lt. Col. Christopher Austin. “It enables us to provide precision support to troops in contact with the enemy, and training on it with our Estonian partners leverages specialization,” he added. A total of 14 jets and 280 pilots, maintainers, and support personnel deployed to Ämari on March 20 and will be there until April 17. In addition to the NATO training with Estonia, the Aviano jets and personnel will conduct separate air-to-air training drills with Partnership for Peace countries Sweden and Finland, states the release.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.