Airforces Monthly - February 2017

BALTIC AIR POLICING
Luftwaffe pilot Capt Martin Zielinski
explains the Eurofighter’s experiences
at Ämari. Christian Timmig/Luftwaffe
BAP missions saw the Mirages always
operating as a pair. Bartek Bera
Luftwaffe in Estonia
This BAP rotation, the 42nd since the
NATO mission began in 2004, also included
Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Eurofighters of
Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader (TaktLwG)
74, home-based at Neuburg in Bavaria.
The contingent took the baton from the
Royal Air Force at Ämari air base in Estonia,
becoming the ‘augmenting nation’ under
the command of Lt Col Swen Jacob.
Germany has now assumed the BAP
mission eight times since 2004 – five as the
lead and three as the augmenting nation
– making it the most frequent contributor,
ahead of Poland (six rotations), Belgium
(six), Denmark (five) and France (five).
AFM caught up with Capt Martin Zielinski
of TaktLwG 74’s 2nd Squadron ‘Zapata’ in
one of the QRA hangars at Ämari. Aside
from the additional survival gear, and the
genuine tension engendered by the current
political situation, Zielinski considers
the BAP mission broadly similar to the
national QRA task back at Neuburg.
Pilots pull 24-hour duty, with a daily
changeover at 12.00hrs. Another
difference is the use of night-vision goggles
(NVGs), which are not currently used
by TaktLwG 74 in Germany.
The stipulated tenminute
reaction time
for a live scramble is “very
realistic”, according to
Zielinski, including six to
nine minutes getting the jet
ready once in the cockpit.
He said a typical scramble
involves an afterburner take-off
from the 2,750m (9,022ft) Ämari
runway followed by a two-minute
climb to cruising level. Depending on
the available diversion airfield, a normal
six-tonne fuel load enables the Eurofighter
to range as far as the Russian enclave of
Kaliningrad, with some ‘playtime’ left over.
Using the NVGs for sorties in the hours of
darkness involves the pilot hitting a ‘lights
kill’ switch in the cockpit before dimming
the head-up display and switching on
the goggles. While they offer obvious
benefits, most pilots still recommend
the use of a targeting pod for night
interception work, an option
not currently provided by the
Luftwaffe BAP detachments.
The presence of the Armée de
l’Air at Šiauliai proved useful for
dissimilar air combat training
(DACT) against the Mirage
2000. After such flights, “there’s
always some tone of frustration
in their voice”, quipped Zielinski,
who added that the end result was
ultimately dependent on the skill of
the pilots, while there was a genuine degree
of competition between the aircrews.
“Against a Mirage [a Eurofighter pilot]
shouldn’t usually have many problems”,
observed Zielinski, who nevertheless noted
86 FEBRUARY 2017 #347
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