In the event of a conventional war, Latvia’s airports will be some of the main attack targets. A single missile would be enough to disable the runway and prevent evacuations by air, says former commander of Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) and Air Force Juris Maklakovs.
Reminding of Latvia’s small size and thinking hypothetically, Maklakovs said that the potential aggressor would perform the first attacks on critical infrastructure – airports, sea ports, railway system and other infrastructure. These would be the first targets to prevent the sending of NATO reinforcements to Latvia.
The expert said small-scale air attacks would be enough to damage an airport’s runway. “Missiles are enough to damage it, plus there is also shrapnel. Restoration of infrastructure could take months,” adds Maklakovs.
There is also the possibility of Latvia’s airspace becoming closed or civilian flights becoming limited in case of a war.
In regards to protection of critical infrastructure from air strikes, Maklakovs said Latvia is a NATO member state, and, in the event of threats, anti-air defence will be tightened. He also reminded of the existing anti-air denfece systems and plans to further tighten anti-air defence in the future.
Currently Spanish armed forces medium-range anti-air defence system Nasams is stationed at Lielvārde military base. Latvia and Estonia have commenced a joint procurement of IRIS-T anti-air defence system, making it the biggest military procurement in Latvia’s history since the restoration of independence. Supplies may commence in 2025.
At the same time, the former commander also said that despite modern and widely-spread anti-air defence systems, the aggressor may still perform successful attacks.
He said that Latvia is a NATO member state,
and the alliance has affirmed multiple times that it will defend every centimetre of each of its member state’s territory. Maklakovs also doubts any aggressor would be willing to attack the alliance.
As previously reported, some Latvian residents have expressed an interest in the report from Ministry of Transport on the possible use of Air Baltic Corporation’s flights in the event of a threat. The report was included in the closed portion of the government’s meeting of the 24th of October. However, as journalists were later told by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, the ministry was ordered to rework the report.
During the closed portion of the meeting ministers agreed to expand the report, allowing for using not only airBaltic, but also other airlines’ aircraft to evacuate or repatriate Latvian citizens in the event of threats.
Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens mentioned on social media that the report on the use of aircraft in emergencies mentions nothing about the government’s evacuation and to claim otherwise is intentional disinformation.
LETA affirmed that, according to publicly available information, Latvia has multiple airports that can be used to land large passenger aircraft. It’s possible to carry passengers using international airports in Riga and Liepaja. Large transport aircraft also use Lielvarde Air Force Base to transport personnel.
Ventspils Airport is a civil aviation airfield of state significance and its technical parameters allow servicing aircraft the maximum take-off mass of which does not exceed 30 tonnes.
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