New Air Surveillance Network and Defence System inaugurated in Lithuania

On December 19 the new BALTNET (Baltic Air Surveillance Network and Control System) configuration and three national centers in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were inaugurated at a ceremony in Kaunas.

As of 1 January 2020 security of the Baltic airspace will be ensured by three Command and Reporting Centers designed for specific national airspace surveillance, based in Tallinn, Lielvarde, and Karmėlava, instead of one joint unit.

BALTNET is fully integrated into the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS) and ensures security of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian airspace. The new configuration of BALTNET, on the basis of the new agreement, comprises three separate Control and Reporting Centers (CRCs) in each of the Baltic states, radiolocation posts, radars, radio equipment and communication lines. All the three Control and Reporting Centers will conduct air surveillance in their respective territories and near them, exchange data, and control the NATO Air Policing Mission aircraft on a rotational basis. In case any of the CRCs cannot carry the functions, another CRC will back up. If a violator is spotted in the airspace of any of the Baltic states, NATO Baltic air policing aircraft are scrambled to intercept it.

The BALTNET co-operation project was launched in 1998 as a system for acquisition, coordination, distribution and display of air surveillance data within the three Baltic States. Its objectives encompass international co-operation between civilian and military air traffic authorities and the development of the respective functions in all participating states.