Frag Out! Magazine

ŁP: What was the Russian pilot's attitude during your meetings in the air? KS: We were behaving as prescribed by previously established procedures – there were no direct approaches. Neither Russian nor our airplanes violated those rules. There were no aggressive flying attempts. Everybody behaved very businesslike. ŁP: What type of planes you had a chance to meet with? KS: There was no Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian airspace inter- diction episode. Decision about emergency take-off is taken by the command&control. The main objective of our missions was to control whether the airplane was the one declared in a fly plan. ŁP: Baltic Air Policing is not only about intercepting Russian air- planes but also about assistance to civilian aircrafts. Have these kind of activity been required during the PMC Orlik V? KS: No, we haven't got any of incidents like these. These are very rare missions either as the Air Policing over the Baltic States or during the duties at home QRA station. Nevertheless this is one of our tasks. ŁP: Serving with the British In Szawla Air Base PMC Orlik V had an opportunity to closely cooperate with totally different airpla- nes. Have comparison with Typhoons overawed you? KS: Typhoon is an airplane of a completely different generation. The British were curious to meet in the air and we did a lot of joint training missions. Frankly speaking they talked about our machines with respect. It must be remembered that air combat is not based on launching rocket from the distance of many kilo- metres – you have to meet a certain conditions threshold to do that. More often you are flying in large formations, sharing the functions: this plane may execute one or other one. We comple- ted these missions. It is obvious that MiG29 has imperfectness and cannot be compared with planes like Typhoon, but on the other hand it still has its advantages. ŁP: At the beginning of Baltic Air Policing it was said that the Lithuanians had not a favourable attitude to international con- tingent, especially the Western one. Nowadays after ten years of mission, have you notify any signs of antipathy? KS: It takes time to change people's attitude. Maybe at the beginning there were some problems, nowadays contingents are part of local scenery. There are always a few foreigners in Szawla. I think our presence generates large profits for the local town. People live here in hotels, spend their money, eat in the restaurants. Shops assistants speak English which proves that people are open to the foreign presence in their city. www.fragoutmag.com

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