NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission Upgrades: Capability without Communication is Not Security

At NATO’s Ankara Summit on July 8, 2026, the alliance agreed to transform its Baltic Air Policing Mission of 22 years into a full air defense mission. This is the largest change the mission has seen since its start in 2004. President Gitanas Nausèda of Lithuania announced this change after the summit, detailing that military commanders would have a larger mandate in which they could destroy potential threats. Prior to this change, action was taken on a case-by-case basis by state political authority, but now authority sits under NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and is delegated to the Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, located in Germany. Essentially, no state consultation is needed to shoot down an object that enters NATO airspace. Though in the 22 years of the Baltic Air Policing Mission, fire was only opened twice, both occurring in 2026.