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NATO aircrews reinforce rescue readiness in Lithuanian-led exercise

NATO Allied Air Command

Sep 22 2025

RAMSTEIN, Germany -- From 15 to 19 September 2025, Allied Air Forces and maritime units from Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, and Liuthuania conducted joint sea-survival and rescue operations in Lithuanian territorial waters as part of Exercise Baltic Bikini 2025.

Designed to simulate emergency aircraft water landings, the annual exercise provided realistic, scenario-based training for aircrews operating over the Baltic region. Participants trained in both pool-based and open-sea environments, rehearsing egress from submerged cockpit simulators, deployment of life-saving rafts, and coordinated rescue responses under operational conditions.

Allied Air Forces and maritime units from Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, and Liuthuania conducted joint sea-survival and rescue operations in Lithuanian territorial waters. Photo courtesy of the Lithuanian Air Force.

A Lithuanian naval ship and Mi-8 helicopters, alongside a shallow-water boat team and divers from an underwater operations unit, supported the drills. The presence of Air Force rescue helicopters ensured that aircrew were recovered under authentic maritime conditions, enhancing multi-domain integration between air and naval assets.

Baltic Bikini focuses on aircrew survival after an aircraft ditching, particularly scenarios involving cold water, strong currents and limited visibility. Training included communication with rescue forces, signal use, survival in immersion suits and extraction by hoist from rescue helicopters. Though water landings are rare, their life-threatening nature makes such preparation essential for air personnel regularly flying over maritime terrain.

Initiated in 1999 with the Royal Danish Air Force and hosted rotationally by the Baltic States since 2004, Baltic Bikini enables interoperability among NATO's eastern Allies. Historical iterations have seen aircrew from various NATO nations, including technicians, medics and loadmasters, undertake critical training in survival and coordination. In addition to individual tasks, crews executed team-based movements from crash sites to rescue points while maintaining communication with air and naval rescuers.

This year's exercise reinforced the Alliance's ability to execute coordinated rescue operations, with a focus on aircrew readiness. Baltic Bikini 2025 further demonstrated NATO's commitment to regional security through multinational cooperation, highlighting the vital role of air force personnel in ensuring rapid response, survivability and joint operational integration.

The name of the exercise has its origin in Denmark. Having started these sea rescue exercises, Denmark named it "Bikini" because at that time exercises with names starting with the letter 'B' held a special status, and the word "Bikini" aptly reflects work in water.

Story by Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office