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French Air Force aircraft (AP) – In the distance, Ukraine, fighting for its survival, Viewed from above here, in the cockpit of a French Air Force surveillance plane flying over neighboring Romania, the snow-covered landscape looks deceptively peaceful.
dead since russia warBroken Ukrainian cities and damaged battlefields are not visible to the naked eye through the clouds.
But French military technicians traveling in the rear of the plane, on surveillance screens that display the word “Secret” when inactive, have a far more penetrating view. With a powerful radar that rotates six times every minute on the fuselage and loaded with surveillance gear, the aircraft can spot missile launches, aerial bombing runs and other military activity. Conflict,
as another Russia’s anniversary on February 24, 2022As the invasion of Ukraine approaches, the Associated Press gained rare and exclusive access to massive Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, aircraft. With 26 military personnel and an AP journalist, it flew a 10-hour reconnaissance mission from central France to Romanian airspace and back, peering over southern Ukraine and the Black Sea with electronic eyes. Russian-occupied Crimea and beyond.
Circling on auto-pilot at 34,000 feet (10 kilometers), the aircraft with the proud rooster painted on its tail provided real-time intelligence to ground commanders.
its mission for nato Even on the eastern side of the 31-nation military alliance, in fact, a line has been drawn that should not be crossed european sky,
The continued presence of aircraft over eastern Romania – also being observed by Russian forces – signals how intensely NATO is monitoring its borders and Russia, ready to take action if Russian aggression threatens to escalate beyond Ukraine. Ready if necessary.
Shield for NATO, pieces of aviation history
Regular surveillance flights, combined with combat patrols, ground-based radar, missile batteries and other hardware at NATO’s disposal, formed what the commander of a French AWACS squadron described as “a shield” against any possible spill-over. Have done.
“The ultimate goal, of course, is no conflict and deterrence,” said the commander, a lieutenant colonel named Richard. Due to French security concerns, the AP was only able to identify him and other military personnel by their ranks and first names.
He added, “We need to show that we have a shield, to show other countries that NATO is a collective defense.” “We have the ability to trace everywhere. And we are not here for any conflict. “We are here to show that we are present and ready.”
France’s four AWACS are among a variety of surveillance aircraft, including unmanned UAV drones, that gather intelligence for NATO and its member states. Lieutenant Colonel Richard said the French E-3F-type AWACS, with their distinctive black-and-white rooftop radar domes, could see hundreds of kilometers (miles), although he would not be accurate.
The E-3s are modified Boeing 707s. The 707 first flew in 1957 but stopped carrying passengers commercially in 2013, so the E-3 is also an example of aviation history.
“We can detect aircraft, we can detect UAVs, we can detect missiles and we can detect ships. That’s certainly true, in Ukraine, especially when we’re on the border,” said Lt. Col. Richard.
As the aircraft was circling and scanning, the crew detected a distant Russian AWACS over the Sea of Azov several hundreds of kilometers away on the eastern side of the Crimean peninsula. The Russian aircraft also spotted French AWACS: sensors in the fuselage picked up Russian radar signals.
“We know they see us, they know we see them. Let’s assume it’s some kind of communication between them and us,” said the French co-pilot, Major Romain.
Hawk-eyed alert on call for Olympic security
NATO also has its own fleet 14 awaks, E-3s too. The coalition says they can detect low-flying targets within 400 kilometers (250 mi) and high-flying targets up to 120 kilometers (75 mi) beyond that. It states that an AWACS can survey an area the size of Poland; Three can cover all of Central Europe.
Capable of flying for up to 12 hours without refueling, French AWACS are not limited to surveillance, communications and air-traffic control missions for NATO. They are expected to be deployed as part of a massive security operation paris olympics, Providing additional radar surveillance with what Lieutenant Colonel Richard called “God’s sight”.
Russian pilots have made it clear many times that they do not like to be watched.
In 2022, a Russian fighter jet fired a missile near a British Air Force RC-135 Rivet joint surveillance aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea, The British government said, US government Video released A Russian fighter jet dumps fuel in March 2023 US Air Force surveillance drone, The drone crashed in the Black Sea.
Justin Bronk, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute defense think tank in London, said Rivet Joints are particularly capable spy aircraft, and Russian officials “really hate” their ability to spy on the Ukraine war.
In addition to gathering “real-time intelligence that could theoretically be shared with Ukrainian partners,” the aircraft will provide information about “how Russian forces actually operate in a real war,” Bronk said in a phone interview. Also provides “brilliant” insights.
“So, of course, the Russians are angry,” he said.
In the sky, regular encounter
NATO too melee with fighter planes Increasing the scope of Russian flights. It said allied aircraft took to the skies more than 500 times in 2022 to intercept Russian aircraft approaching NATO airspace. According to the Brussels-headquartered coalition, the number of such encounters is expected to drop to more than 300 in 2023.
Strengthening Ukrainian air defenses with Western weapons may partly explain the reduction, with Russian pilots wary of firing. NATO noted a decline in activity of manned Russian flights over the western Black Sea last year. NATO says that “the majority of aerial encounters between NATO and Russian jets were safe and professional” and that Russian incursions into NATO airspace were rare and generally small.
The co-pilot on the French flight, Major Romain, said that Russian aircraft had not intercepted French AWACS “for a long time” and that if they did, French pilots would attempt to de-escalate any tensions.
“Our orders, let’s say, should be inactive,” he said. “For a civilian, let’s say ‘polite’.”
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See more AP coverage of Russia and Ukraine here https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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