AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia (AP) — Russia is
so close that the F-16 fighter pilots can see it on the
horizon as they swoop
down over a training range in Estonia in the biggest ever show of U.S. air
power in the Baltic countries.
The simulated bombs
release smoke on impact, but the M-61 cannon fires live ammunition, rattling
the aircraft with a deafening tremor and shattering targets on the ground.
The four-week drill
is part of a string of non-stop exercises by U.S. land, sea and air forces in
Europe — from Estonia in the north to Bulgaria in the south — scaled up since
last year to reassure nervous NATO allies after Russia's military intervention
in Ukraine. U.S.
and Russian forces are now essentially back in a Cold War-style standoff,
flexing their muscles along NATO's eastern flank.
The saber-rattling
raises the specter that either side could misinterpret a move by the other,
triggering a conflict between two powers with major nuclear arsenals despite a
sharp reduction from the Cold War era.
"A dangerous
game of military brinkmanship is now being played in Europe ,"
said Ian Kearns, director of the European Leadership Network, a London-based
think-tank. "If one commander or one pilot makes a mistake or a bad
decision in this situation, we may have casualties and a high-stakes cycle of
escalation that is difficult to stop."
With memories of
five decades of Soviet occupation still fresh, many in the Baltic countries
find the presence of U.S.
forces a comfort rather than a risk.
In recent months, Estonia , Latvia
and Lithuania have seen
hundreds of U.S.
armored vehicles, tanks and helicopters arrive on their soil. With a combined
population of just over 6 million, tiny armies and no combat aircraft or
vehicles, the last time tanks rumbled through their streets was just over 20
years ago, when remnants of the Soviet army pulled out of the region.
The commander of
Estonia's tiny air force, Col. Jaak Tarien, described the roar of American
F-16s taking off from Amari — a former Soviet air base — as "the sound of
freedom."
Normally based in Aviano , Italy ,
14 fighter jets and about 300 personnel from the 510th Fighter Squadron are
training together with the Estonians — but also the Swedish and Finnish air
forces. Meanwhile, Spain 's
air force is in charge of NATO's rotating air patrols over the Baltic
countries.
"A month-long
air exercise with a full F-16 squadron and, at the same time, a Spanish
detachment doing air policing; that is unprecedented in the Baltics," said
Tarien, who studied at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs .
In Moscow the U.S. Air Force drills just 60
miles (100 kilometers) from the Russian border are seen in a
different light.
"It takes F-16
fighters just a few minutes to reach St. Petersburg," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, referring to the major Russian port city
on the Baltic Sea. He expressed concern that the ongoing exercise could herald
plans to "permanently deploy strike aircraft capable of carrying nuclear
weapons at the Russian border."
NATO spokeswoman
Carmen Romero called those allegations "baseless" and said it is Russia that has breached the agreement through
its actions in Ukraine .
She said NATO's
increased military presence in Eastern Europe
"is rotational and well below any reasonable definition of ?substantial
combat forces. All our measures are defensive, proportional and in line with
our international commitments."
"Russia is threatening nearly everybody; it is
their way," said Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House
Armed Services Committee, during a recent visit to Vilnius , the Lithuanian capital.
"They want to
intimidate the Baltic states, Poland ,
Ukraine and Romania ,
country after country. And the question is, do you let the bully get away with
that or do you stand up and say 'no, you can threaten, but we will not allow
you to run over us,'" Thornberry said.
The Pentagon has
said that some 3,000 U.S.
troops will be conducting training exercises in Eastern
Europe this year. That's a small number compared to the hundreds
of thousands of U.S. troops
that have been withdrawn from Europe since the
days when the Iron Curtain divided the continent. But the fact that they are
carrying out exercises in what used to be Moscow 's
backyard makes it all the more sensitive; the Kremlin sees NATO's eastward
expansion as a top security threat.
During a symbolic
visit to Estonia in September, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the
defense of the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius is just as
important as defending Berlin, Paris and London — a statement warmly received
in Estonia, a nation of 1.3 million and with a mere 5,500 soldiers on active
duty.
Welcoming the U.S.
fighter squadron to Estonia, U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey D. Levine said the air
drill was needed "to deter any power that might question our commitment to
Article 5" — NATO's key principle of collective defense of its members.
On Wednesday, The
Associated Press observed bombing and strafing drills at the Tapa training
ground both from the ground and from the back seat of one of the two F-16s
taking part.
On board the
fighter jet, the pull of the G-force was excruciating as the pilot swooped down
onto his target before brutally ascending to circle the range.
After dropping six
practice bombs each, the two jets returned to Amari air base, flying so low
over the flat Estonian countryside that they frequently had to gain altitude to
avoid radio towers.
On the ground, Lt.
Col. Christopher Austin, commander of the 510th Squadron, dismissed the risk of
his pilots making any rash moves that could provoke a reaction from the
Russians.
"We stay far
enough away so that we don't have to worry about any (border) zones or anything
like that," he said. "We don't even think about it."
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