User:Efteraar71!/The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force

The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF)

Sources: www.nato.int, www.e3a.nato.int, www.napma.nato.int, "Politics of Compromise NATO and AWACS" by Arnold Lee Tessmer, published by National Defense University Press Washington, DC

In the early 1970's, studies directed by NATO's major military commanders showed that an airborne early warning (AEW) radar system would significantly enhance the Alliance's air defense capability. It had become essential for air defences to have the ability to look down with radars to see low-flying aircraft. Essentially, there was the fear that low-flying aircraft from Warsaw Pact countries could easily penetrate Alliance Territory by hiding behind or in natural terrain features, such as mountains or valleys, thereby avoiding detection by radar.

To acquire this capability, it was necessary to install a radar into a flying platform. The solution came in the form of the AWACS, a militarised Boeing 707 with a rotating disk-like (rotodome) attached to its aft fuselage. In December 1978, NATO's Defence Planning Committee (DPC) signed a memorandum of understanding to buy and operate a NATO-owned AEW system. With this decision, the member nations embarked on NATO's largest commonly funded acquisition program.

The NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF) was established in January 1980, and granted full NATO Command headquarters status by the DPC on 17 October 1980. Force Command Headquarters is located with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium and is commanded either by a US Air Force or German Air Force Major General on a rotational basis. The Deputy Force Commander is always an RAF Air Commodore. Force Command reports directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

Today the NAEW&C Force consists of two operational elements called Components: The multi-national NATO E-3A Component at Geilenkirchen, Germany, operating 17 Boeing NATO E-3A AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft as well as 3 Trainer Cargo Aircraft (TCA) and the RAF E-3D Component at Waddington in the UK with 7 Boeing E-3D AWACS aircraft manned and operated by RAF personnel exclusively. The E-3D Component declared its Initial Operating Capability on 1 July 1992, thus establishing the NAEW&C Mixed Force concept.

Sixteen nations (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States) participate in the NAEW&C Force programme, with 14 of them providing personnel to the NATO E-3A Component (the UK flies its own E-3 system and Luxembourg does not provide personnel). The E-3As have been operating from the Main Operating Base (MOB) at Geilenkirchen, since February 1982. There are four additional bases; Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) are located in Trapani, Italy, in Aktion, Greece, and in Konya, Turkey. There is also a Forward Operating Location (FOL) in Oerland, Norway.

The E-3A/D normally operates at an altitude of 30,000 feet. When established at this altitude a single E-3A/D can continuously survey the airspace within a radius of more than 400 km of the aircraft and, using digital data links, exchange information with ground- and sea-based commanders. Thus, an E-3A/D positioned well within friendly airspace can provide early warning information on both low-flying and high-altitude aircraft operating over the territory of a potential aggressor. While the Force’s principal role is air surveillance, it can also conduct tactical battle management functions such as support and control of friendly aircraft involved in offensive and defensive counter air operations, close air support, battlefield air interdiction, combat search and rescue, reconnaissance, tactical air transport, and air to air refuelling missions.

The E-3A/D’s multi-mode radar is able to separate moving targets from ground clutter by use of the Doppler principle. Consequently the E-3A/D crews are able to detect and track low-flying aircraft, and they are also capable of operating in the maritime mode, which enables the radar to detect and track ships.

(www.e3a.nato.int)