On 15 November 2012 there was held the international exercise „Ramstein Aspect of 2012". During the exercise Control and Reporting Posts in Amari (Estonia), Lielvarde (Latvia) and Karmėlava (Lithuania) imitated to take over the functions of the combined Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) Karmėlava and to carry out autonomous operations in accordance with the requirements set out in the standard operating procedures of the BALTNET.
CRC Karmėlava is the military unit of the three Baltic States, which was set up in the year 2000 under the BALTNET project in Karmėlava (Kaunas district), in order to ensure the enforcement of sovereignty of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian national airspace and to promote common development of the national air defence systems interoperable with each other and with the NATO structures. CRC tasks are airspace monitoring, arms control, implementation of command and control functions and other related functions.
Control and Reporting Post (CRP) Karmėlava is the structural unit of the Airspace Surveillance and Control Command (ASCC). CRP Karmėlava controls Lithuanian military radars, provides information to CRC Karmelava and to others NATO Integrated Air Defence System's (NATINADS) structures on aircraft within Lithuanian airspace, coordinates Search and Rescue (SAR) with Aeronautical SAR Coordination Centre/ Maritime SAR Coordination Centre and scrambles of SAR helicopters. In carrying out its activities CRP Karmėlava exchanges the information with the State Boarder Guard Service, civilian ATC and other structures with regard to Lithuanian airspace control issues.
Capt Jekaterina Suvorova-Dadurkienė
