TIRANA, Jan 15 /ATA/ – The NATO tactical base being constructed on the site of a communist-era airfield in the town of Kuçova, around 85 km away from the Albanian capital of Tirana, is becoming a significant imprint of the NATO presence and will host a range of various drills and operations of the military Alliance.
The Defence Minister Niko Peleshi posted Monday a gallery of pictures showing the NATO air base in Kuçova, where reconstruction work has entered a completion stage and the base will be inaugurated soon.
Defence Minister noted that Kuçova is the only NATO tactical base for both national and NATO strategic operations in the Western Balkans.
“Albanian Armed Forces and NATO allies shoulder to shoulder to ensure security and stability in the region,” Peleshi said.
The military alliance investment is estimated at 45.8 million euros, a project designed to modernise the control tower, build new storage units and restore the runway, upgrade and modernize the old aerodrome in the south-central Albanian town of Kuçova to transform the facility into a deployable NATO tactical base.
The project is as ambitious as crucial to Albania’s national security, but most importantly for regional security. The upgrading work that kicked off today will include renovating the runway, taxiways, storage facilities and flight control and safety infrastructure and access roads.
Transforming the communist-era Kuçova aerodrome into a NATO air base to be used for alliance operations represents a great opportunity for the Albanian army to boost national capacities and modernize air forces.
/u.sh/
