A US Air Force B-1B Lancer flew in a NATO air defense training mission over Lithuania and Latvia on September 29, 2026, marking the first participation of a US bomber under the alliance’s new air defense framework.
According to NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), the mission brought together German and Italian Eurofighter Typhoons, Spanish F/A-18 Hornets, and Turkish F-16 Fighting Falcons. Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft from the Multinational MRTT Unit and an Italian Air Force KC-767A provided air-to-air refueling.
The French Air and Space Force commanded the air component. Spanish and Latvian ground-based assets were also integrated into the exercise, in order to simulate multi-domain air defense activities.
NATO expands air policing into air defense
The new framework brings NATO’s air and missile defense efforts under common rules, guidelines, and command-and-control procedures regardless of the threat, from crewed aircraft and drones to cruise and ballistic missiles, AIRCOM said in a release on September 10, 2026.
According to NATO, during 2026 the Alliance has upgraded its Air Policing mission, in place since 1961, and integrated it with other activities into what it describes as a comprehensive Air Defence posture.
In the Baltics, the existing four-month rotational model has continued under the new posture, with additional allied assets deployed to broaden air defense capabilities. The presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had called on NATO in May 2026 to transition Baltic Air Policing into an air defense mission and strengthen counter-drone capabilities.
Four Italian Eurofighters took over at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, on July 31, 2026, as part of a new rotation of Italian, Spanish and Turkish air defense detachments on NATO’s eastern flank. Italian Eurofighters operating from Šiauliai also shot down a drone over Lithuania on September 15, 2026.
Baltic mission follows Black Sea rehearsal
The Baltic mission comes in the wake of an AIRCOM-led Flexible Deterrent Option (FDO) over Romania on September 9, 2026, which the command described as advancing the shift from air policing to air defense. That activity involved fighters and tankers from France, Greece, Romania, Spain, and Turkey. NATO uses FDOs to rehearse the rapid integration of allied forces and refine command-and-control arrangements.