Turkey will send five F-16 fighter jets and 76 personnel from the 181st squadron to Estonia to take part in NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission. This was reported by the Hurriyet newspaper.

"This mission holds great strategic significance within the framework of defending NATO's eastern flank. It will make an important contribution to strengthening Turkey's international deterrence capabilities, interoperability with allied forces, and enhancing strategic potential," Turkish Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Özdemir told the Anadolu agency.

According to Hurriyet, the mission, which will run on a rotational basis from August to November, involves patrolling the airspace of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, none of which have their own fighter jets.

In December, Bloomberg had reported that NATO had asked Turkey to provide F-16 fighter jets to patrol the airspace of the Baltic states several months earlier than originally planned. It was claimed that the alliance intended to use the fighter jets for the Baltic Air Policing mission and to carry out a rotation in Estonia between August and December 2026. Turkish Air Force jets had previously patrolled the airspace of Poland from July 6 to September 15, 2021, and of Romania from November 30, 2023, to April 2, 2024.