SYNOPSIS
NATO Air Policing is a collective task and a purely defensive mission, which involves the 24/7 presence of fighter aircraft, which are ready to react quickly to airspace violations. The Belgian and Dutch Air Forces defend the airspace over Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (BENELUX) on a rotational basis.
Footage includes shots of Belgian Air Force F-16 fighters prepping for a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) exercise, taking off and returning to the air base as well as an interview with a Belgian fighter pilot. QRA – also called scramble - is a state of readiness and modus operandi of air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces.
For security reasons, the identity of the pilots is not disclosed. During filming, all COVID-19 precautions were observed, including mask-wearing and social distancing.
SHOTLIST
1. (00:00) LARGE SHOT OF AIRCRAFT IN HANGAR AT FLORENNES AIR BASE IN BELGIUM
2. (00:05) BELGIAN FIGHTER PILOT RUNNING TO F-16 JET AFTER THE ALARM WAS ACTIVATED DURING A QUICK REACTION ALERT (QRA) EXERCISE
3. (00:07) VARIOUS SHOTS OF F-16 AND AIR CREW INSIDE THE HANGAR
4. (00:18) CLOSE UP OF BELGIAN FIGHTER PILOT INSIDE THE COCKPIT
5. (00:27) CLOSE UP OF BELGIAN F-16 INSIDE THE HANGAR
6. (00:33) VARIOUS SHOTS OF BELGIAN F-16 JETS LEAVING THE HANGAR AND TAXIING TO RUNWAY
7. (01:24) VARIOUS SHOTS OF BELGIAN F-16 JETS TAKING OFF FROM FLORENNES AIR BASE, BELGIUM, DURING A QUICK REACTION ALERT (QRA) EXERCISE
8. (02:08) BELGIAN F-16 JET LANDING AT FLORENNES AIR BASE, BELGIUM
9. (02:14) VARIOUS SHOTS OF A BELGIAN F-16 JET PARKING NEAR THE HANGAR
10. (02:27) VARIOUS SHOTS OF A BELGIAN FIGHTER PILOT CLIMBING OUT OF F-16 JET
11. (02:54) SOUNDBITE BY A BELGIAN FIGHTER PILOT (ANONYMOUS) (IN DUTCH)
“Dat is een NATO opdracht. Wij doen dat om het luchtruim veilig te houden tegenover vliegtuigen die vanuit andere gebieden komen natuurlijk en die hier vliegen zonder toestemming in feite. De bedoeling is eigenlijk om deze te gaan controleren, kijken waarom zij hier zijn. Het kan zijn dat zij een verkeerd vluchtplan hebben doorgegeven enzovoort en daarom is het dan de bedoeling dat wij gaan kijken om zo ons luchtruim te kunnen beveiligen en ook natuurlijk ervoor te zorgen dat zij geen slechte bedoelingen hebben. In zekere zin hier, gebeurt het niet vaak dat de bedoelingen slecht zijn maar soms kan het wel gebeuren, en daarom.”
“This is a NATO mission. We do that in order to keep the airspace safe from aircraft that come from other regions and fly here without authorisation. The intention is to check them and find out why they are here. Maybe they gave the wrong flight plan, so we go and find out so that we can secure our airspace and of course also make sure that they don't have malicious intentions. The intention is not often malicious here, but sometimes it can happen, so that’s the reason.”
END
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