How NATO's 'eyes in the sky' are watching Russia's moves

The Russian posturing over the Ukraine invasion has kept the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on its toes. 

NATO's Airborne Warning And Control System aircraft have been patrolling alliance airspace in Eastern Europe following Russia's attack on Ukraine. 

NATO's Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft have a distinctive radar dome mounted on the fuselage which allows the crew to survey an area of more than 310,798 square kilometres. That's roughly the size of Poland.

The Boeing 707 aircraft take-off from the NATO airbase Geilenkirchen in Germany and monitor the skies over the NATO airspace. 

According to Tactical Director Major Dan 'Rhino' Reinhardt, "The mission is three-fold -- we are defending the alliance by ensuring that no unidentified aircraft enters NATO territory. We are deterring aggression and we are assuring our Eastern partners that we are here watching their backs ensuring they are not surprised by anything."

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"Since the invasion, the tempo of our operations has gotten higher at Geilenkirchen. We are definitely flying more than we usually do. But our actual mission has not changed," he added.

Lieutenant Patricia 'Mad Dog' Nersten, who is the weapons controller from NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force, said: "Since the Russian incursion, there has been a lot more activity with our job. We have been more productive than we typically are in order to ensure that we are always ready if called upon and to keep an eye out on everything that is happening and provide good updates for intel."
 
"Personally, it is really good to be involved with everything that is going on. We are really looking to solidify NATO relationships, make sure that we are going out there to do the job and support any way we can, and it feels good to be a part of a mission this big," she added.

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