Força Aérea Portuguesa/Portuguese Air Force (FAP) F-16 MLU Fighting Falcons currently deployed at Siaulial Air Base Lithuania, for air policing duties trained with NATO’s Maritime Group One during an anti-surface warfare exercise on October 29.

The exercise had an objective to reinforce integration between naval and air assets whilst operating under NATO’s command. The exercise was also used to enhance procedures for optimising target acquisition, identification, and employment of anti-ship weapons from the aircraft.

Maj Emídio Fernandes, Portuguese Air Force detachment commander, said: "Multi-domain exercises enhance our ability to Integrate and synchronize effects across different domains and generate multiple, complex dilemmas for adversaries."

Although the main purpose of the FAP F-16s being in Lithuania is for air policing missions, training alongside the rest of the allied forces in the Baltics is a critical objective for the FAP in providing opportunities to improve interoperability and tactics between NATO members.