Georgia and NATO start Air Situation Data Exchange programme

After Austria, Georgia is now the second NATO Partner country to have established an ASDE connection with NATO.

The signing of a tri-lateral (GEO, TUR, SHAPE) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in December 2007 paved the way for the technical implementation and testing of the system, which was completed on 26 August 2008. With the connection between the Georgian Command and Control Centre (CCC) in Tbilisi and the NATO Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) in Erzurum, Turkey, the ASDE with Georgia became operational. 

Background

The ASDE programme was launched in 2001 to provide a means for the reciprocal exchange of air situation information between NATO and a Partner country.

The programme enhances visibility of aircraft movements within the airspace along the border between the Partner country and NATO nations. It thereby improves air safety and supports air traffic management.

Austria has had an operational ASDE since 2006. In June 2008, Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NATO, laying the ground work for the technical implementation of the ASDE connection. The North Atlantic Council has also approved requests from Albania, Finland and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ and individual MOUs are being developed with each of these countries.

What does ASDE mean in practice?

Both NATO and the respective Partner Nation produce an air picture over their own areas of responsibility and interest.  With ASDE the respective air pictures of a defined airspace along the common border are exchanged, confirming and, where necessary, supplementing the respective area air pictures.  This enhances air traffic safety on both sides.

Will ASDE provide for air surveillance of the Partner country’s territory?

No, ASDE does not substitute for air surveillance or air traffic control capabilities in a Partner Nation, but should be seen as a complement to existing capabilities. ASDE does not integrate a Partner Nation’s Air Surveillance Capability into the NATO Integrated Air Defence System (NATINADS). ASDE is limited to a clearly defined airspace extending on both sides of the common border between the Partner nation and NATO nations.