Synopsis
The Hungarian Air Force is leading NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission from Lithuania, keeping the skies in the east safe and secure.
Hungary took command of the mission from Spain in August 2022, deploying their JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania for the third time since 2015. From there, they have scrambled to investigate unidentified radar contacts, including Russian aircraft passing close to Allied airspace. Russian military aircraft often do not follow international safety rules, including tabling a flight plan and communicating with air traffic control leading the NATO jets to scramble and make sure Allied airspace remained safe.
NATO Air Policing is a standing peacetime mission that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It includes quick-reaction fighter aircraft that are ready to take off within minutes to intercept any aircraft that may threaten Allied airspace.
Footage includes pilots performing a training scramble, jets taking off, pilots inspecting their planes and an interview in Hungarian with the detachment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Attila Ványik.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) CLOSE UP - HUNGARIAN PILOTS RUNNING TO A VEHICLE DURING A TRAINING SCRAMBLE
(00:15) CLOSE UP - HUNGARIAN PILOTS IN A VEHICLE DRIVING TO THE AIRFIELD
(00:18) VARIOUS MEDIUM SHOTS - HUNGARIAN PILOT RUNNING TO JAS-39 GRIPEN FIGHTER JET AND CLIMBING IN
(00:46) MEDIUM SHOT - GRIPEN TESTING VERTICAL STABILISERS
(00:56) VARIOUS SHOTS - GRIPEN TAXIING ONTO RUNWAY
(01:12) VARIOUS WIDE SHOTS - GRIPEN TAKING OFF
(01:37) VARIOUS SHOTS - JAS 39 GRIPEN RETURNING TO HANGAR
(02:25) CLOSE UP ON HUNGARIAN AIR POLICING BADGE
(02:27) VARIOUS SHOTS - COMMANDER INSPECTING JAS 39 GRIPEN
(03:09) SOUNDBITE (HUNGARIAN) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ATTILA VÁNYIK, COMMANDER, HUNGARIAN DETACHMENT, NATO BALTIC AIR POLICING
“We are a member of NATO, and it is a NATO commitment to help the Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - ensure airspace security on a rotation principle. This is the third time Hungary participates in this task. We were here for the first time in 2015 and then in 2019, and this is the third time we can protect the airspace of the Baltic States together with other member states.”
(03:44) SOUNDBITE (HUNGARIAN) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ATTILA VÁNYIK, COMMANDER, HUNGARIAN DETACHMENT, NATO BALTIC AIR POLICING
“Of course, I can't go into detail because of the information's sensitive nature, but I can tell you that most of our alerts were of Russian type. There have been transport aircraft, fighter aircraft, transport and fighter aircraft together and reconnaissance aircraft among the incoming planes.
And their movement was over international waters in every case, usually from [Kaliningrad] to St. Petersburg or vice versa.”
(04:21) SOUNDBITE (HUNGARIAN) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ATTILA VÁNYIK, COMMANDER, HUNGARIAN DETACHMENT, NATO BALTIC AIR POLICING
“Of course, we're also learning from this task. The new environment itself provides us with a learning opportunity. Furthermore, cooperation with other nations, joint flights, joint planning, joint evaluations, all of these help us to go home with more value than we came with.”
(04:06) SOUNDBITE (HUNGARIAN) LIEUTENANT COLONEL ATTILA VÁNYIK, COMMANDER, HUNGARIAN DETACHMENT, NATO BALTIC AIR POLICING
“Yes, I must admit that it is indeed a beautiful country that we fly over, or rather beautiful countries, because our flight zone includes not only Lithuania, but also Latvia and Estonia.
There are not many mountains in these three countries, but nonetheless the landscape is still beautiful. Flying over the sea is also a great experience, so I can say that it is overall a great experience to fly over this area.”
