PRESS

still fly older but very capable aircraft, such as the Tornado,
Mirage, and Phantom. Finally, some countries
fly fleets of Russian-produced aircraft with Westernstyle,
NATO-compatible modifications. For example,
Poland recently deployed four MiG-29s to do Baltic
air policing over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 6
NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations—
Sweden, Finland, and Austria—also have advanced
fighter capabilities. While there are more than enough
aircraft available, the issue is whether nations will
commit enough of these aircraft to fly specific types
of missions in particular NATO operations. As former
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and
NATO policy Ian Brzezinski has noted, “Little more
than a handful of NATO’s 28 members proved willing
to fly strike missions in Libya.” 7
Areas for improvement in non-U.S. NATO aircraft
are 1) stealth capability, 2) air-refueling tankers, 3)
strategic airlifters, and 4) intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. NATO operations
have long relied on the U.S. Air Force for the bulk
of these types of aircraft. These challenges and non-
U.S. NATO nations’ efforts to address them will be
discussed later.
MUNITIONS
Collectively, NATO nations have a variety of
close-in, precision-guided weapons. They also have a
number of precision standoff munitions that can suppress
enemy air defenses and conduct standoff precision
strikes so aircraft do not have to penetrate lethal
air-defense rings. However, potential adversaries’ air
defenses continue to advance and mature, creating increased
risk and difficulties for air forces to provide
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