The AWACS – or Airborne Warning and Control Systems – are modified Boeing 707s (called E-3A), equipped with special radar capable of detecting air traffic over large distances and at low altitudes. The data can be transmitted directly from the aircraft to command and control centers on the ground, sea or in the air.
The fleet, formally called the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEWF), is one of the few military assets that are actually owned and operated by NATO. It is the Alliance’s largest common-funded project and an example of what NATO member countries can achieve by pooling resources.
What are its tasks and responsibilities?
The AWACS play a unique and valuable role for the Alliance by conducting a broad range of missions, ranging from air surveillance to air support and reconnaissance.
In recent years, they increasingly have been deployed on complex and tactical missions, including air-to-air and air-to-ground control, airspace management, air policing, combat search and rescue, force marshalling and threat warning.
Critical asset for crisis management
Since 1982, when it began flying operations, the AWACS fleet has proven to be a critical asset for crisis-management and peace-support operations.
The fleet’s latest crisis-management operation was at the beginning of 2003 as part of NATO’s defensive deployment to southeastern Turkey. Operation Display Deterrence, launched in response to the threat posed by the conflict in Iraq, consisted of theatre missile defences, chemical and biological defence equipment and AWACS surveillance aircraft. Between February and May 2003, AWACS crews flew over 100 missions and more than 950 flying hours to protect Turkey.
Seven NATO AWACS aircraft were deployed to the United States following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 to help defend North America against further attacks. Operation Eagle Assist, which was launched on 9 October 2001 and concluded on 16 May 2002, represented the first time in Alliance history that NATO assets were deployed in support of the defence of one of its member countries.
During the 1990s, starting in July 1992, aircraft from both the NATO and the UK AWACS fleets operated extensively in the Balkans, supporting United Nations resolutions in the former Yugoslavia and Alliance missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo. Aircraft from the French force and the US Air Force also helped achieve the objectives of these missions.
Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, aircraft from NATO’s AWACS component deployed to eastern Turkey to help reinforce NATO’s southern flank during the war. Operation Anchor Guard included monitoring air and sea traffic in the eastern Mediterranean and providing airborne surveillance along the Iraqi-Turkish border. This deployment lasted from August 1990 to March 1991.
Protecting NATO populations
NATO governments have also requested NATO AWACS support and their surveillance capability for major public events. This was the case for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the “Euro 2004” European football championship in Portugal, the 2006 World Cup football contests, as well as important meetings held by other international organisations. NATO AWACS also support security for summits, such as the meeting of Alliance heads of state and government in Riga, Latvia, in November 2006.
Who participates?
Multinationality is a key characteristic of the AWACS programme. It involves 15 NATO countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States. The United Kingdom also contributed to the programme, but decided to create its own unit of E-3D AWACS aircraft. All these countries, together with the United Kingdom, participate in the multinational NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF).
The fleet therefore consists of two operational elements:
- The NATO E-3A Component at Geilenkirchen, which operates 17 NATO-owned AWACS E-3A aircraft. The squadrons are manned by integrated international crews from 13 nations: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Poland will send a crew soon.
- British Royal Air Force (RAF) Airborne Early Warning Squadron Number 8 at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, with seven Boeing E-3D aircraft. The E-3D Component is manned only by RAF personnel.
The fleet Command is co-located with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium, which exercises administrative control over the force.
The fleet also has forward operating bases at Konya in Turkey, Aktion in Greece, Trapani in Italy, and Oerland, Norway.
The AWACS programme is run by the NAEW&C Programme Management Agency in Brunssum, the Netherlands. The agency is staffed by seconded military officers and civilian officials from the nations participating in the programme. Its general manager is responsible to the NATO Secretary General for administrative and personnel matters.
How does it work in practice?
At present, the fleet numbers 17 Boeing AWACS E-3A radar aircraft and three trainer/cargo planes. To operate one E-3A and all of its on-board systems, there is a crew of 17 highly trained men and women from all areas of expertise.
Eyes in the sky
This aircraft can fly over 10 hours (and longer with air-to-air refueling) at 30 000 feet (9 150 metres) and can detect low-flying aircraft within 400 kilometres and aircraft flying at a medium altitude within 520 kilometres.
The antennas for the radar systems are found in the rotodome that is carried atop the AWACS. This structure rotates every ten seconds, providing 360-degree surveillance coverage.
One aircraft flying at 9 150 meters (30 000 feet) has a radar coverage of 312 000 square kilometers. Three aircraft in overlapping orbits can provide complete radar coverage of all of Central Europe.
Operators are able to identify and track enemy aircraft operating at low altitudes over all different types of terrain and give directions to friendly aircraft operating in the same area. Because the onboard radars are able to look down at the ground below, targets that would normally be obscured by stationary ground clutter can be picked up and tracked. The radar systems are able to detect not only airborne targets but also maritime vessels.
In addition to the surveillance systems, the AWACS fleet also carries extensive avionics equipment for navigation, communications and data processing. One such system is the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), which instantly transmits a large amount of valuable and strategically important information to Allies.
Apart from the operational fleet of 17 aircraft, there are also three trainer/cargo aircraft used for pilot instruction and cargo and passenger transport. Part of the operational fleet, these aircraft can be quickly converted from an all-passenger configuration into an all-cargo configuration or a combination of the two.
How did it evolve?
During the 1960s, it became clear that military aircraft could no longer fly high enough to avoid surface-to-air missiles. To survive in an increasingly lethal air defence environment, aircraft were forced down to levels little higher than tree-top. By the early 1970s, it had become essential for air defences to have the ability to look down with radars to see low-flying aircraft. To acquire this capability, it was necessary to install a radar into a flying platform.
The solution came in the form of AWACS, a militarised Boeing 707 with a rotating disk-like radar dome (rotodome) attached to its fuselage.
In December 1978, NATO’s Defence Planning Committee approved the joint acquisition of 18 E-3A AWACS aircraft to be operated as an Alliance-owned airborne early warning system.
In addition to the delivery of 18 E-3A aircraft to the NAEWF, between February 1982 and May 1985, the NAEW&C programme included the AEGIS project to upgrade 40 NATO Air Defence Ground Environment (NADGE) sites, stretching from northern Norway to eastern Turkey, to make them interoperable with AWACS. A main operating base was established in Geilenkirchen, Germany, and forward operating bases at Konya in Turkey, Aktion in Greece, Trapani in Italy, and Oerland, Norway, were also established.
One of the reasons for the success of the programme is that the North Atlantic Council granted organisational, administrative and financial autonomy to the NAEW&CF Programme Management Organization (NAPMO) established as a production and logistics organisation to implement the programme. The 18 E-3As were delivered on schedule and under cost estimate, with some $ 100 million in savings. Part of these savings were used to buy three used 707s and convert them into trainer/cargo aircraft.
Despite an ever-changing security environment, the AWACS fleet remains a powerful tool for air defence. For instance, the fleet has been part of the NATO Response Force, a vehicle of Alliance transformation, since its prototype stood up in October 2003.
The fleet is currently being improved through a modernisation programme involving state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing developments. The mid-term modernisation programme includes integration of enhancements to the E-3A component’s computers, displays, communications, navigation and target identification systems. The programme, which began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion in 2007-2008, consists of nine major projects: improved human-machine interface, multi-sensor integration, automated digital communication switching, navigation system improvement, wide-spectrum very high frequency radios, ultra high frequency satellite communications, additional display consoles, and new identification friend or foe transponders and interrogators. Additionally, studies are underway looking at the next phase of AWACS enhancements, to follow the current round, which will allow the force to meet operational requirements in the future.