Frank Gräfe

Under the Integrated Air and Missile Defence Framework, air policing will be subsumed under NATO's comprehensive air defence posture.

German Major General Frank Grafe, Chief of Staff for NATO Allied Air Command, said, The Belgian Air Force's assumption of this vital mission in Iceland marks a significant move to a single integrated air and missile defence posture.

Allied Air Command continues to strengthen NATO's air defence umbrella with a multi-layered, 360-degree approach involving assets and capabilities across all operational domains, to address emerging and future threats, whether crewed or uncrewed, aircraft or other.

NATO's air policing mission began in 1961 when the Alliance established a standing peacetime capability to safeguard the integrity and security of NATO airspace.