“The drones are currently based in Sigonella, Italy. From there, planes fly through NATO airspace, particularly through Finland, to collect intelligence on the eastern border,” Yle writes.
As the portal notes, Finland offered to place a NATO base on its territory. Four versions of placement are being considered, the most likely base location may be the Finnish airbase Pirkkala.
Pirkkala is the fighter air base of the Satakunta Air Command, which will host the F-35s that Finland is buying from the US. NATO sources consider Finland’s advantage to be that Pirkkala is located next to Russia and critical areas of the Baltic Sea.
At the same time, NATO is in the early stages of planning future drone operations in Northern Europe, the portal notes. Alliance countries compete for the location of the base. It is expected that a decision on this issue will be made next year.
newssky.com.ua
