‘Tigers’ and ‘Lions’
Now for more than three decades, the NATO E-3A AWACS (Airborne early Warning And Control System) aircraft have continued to play a vital role in international defence. The impressive career of this remarkable aircraft makes it interesting to zoom in on to have a look at their home base, Geilenkirchen in Germany.
History and status
The “NATO E-3A Component” unit at Geilenkirchen air base is located at the German-Dutch border, close to the Allied Joint Force Command centre in Brunssum. Originally 18 aircraft were acquired from Boeing which were delivered from 1982 onwards, (their complex systems primarily integrated at the Dornier airfield at Oberpffanhofen, near Munich, also visited by high powered Indian defence ministry officials: Ed). Over the years, one AWACS was lost owing to bird strike during take-off from Preveza air base in Greece (1996) and another three E-3As have been put into storage as they were not included in an upcoming up-grade plan reportedly because of technical and budgetary reasons.
The current fleet of 14 NATO AWACS aircraft has been up graded with a digital cockpit under the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources Replacement of Avionics for Global Operations and Navigation (DRAGON) programme which incorporated a new identification friend or foe system and upgraded weather radar. In December 2019, a Final Lifetime Extension Programme (FLEP) was worked with Boeing and which will allow NATO to operate the AWACS until 2035, by when a new Airborne Early Warning system should be available. The FLEP incorporated new communications and networking capabilities, including new Have Quick radios, new encryption equipment, new operator consoles, upgraded mission computing, expanded data capacity and increased bandwidth for satellite communications.
The structure
The NATO E-3A Component consists out of two flight squadrons; One Tigers and Two Lions. Together with the six Royal Air Force E-3D AWACS aircraft based at Waddington in the UK, they constitute the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF), reporting directly to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), currently under General Tod. D Wolters USAF. Although not in the same command, the NAEW&CF aircraft regularly cooperate in joint tasks with AWACS units from the USAF and the French Armée de l’Air.
The task and mission of the AWACS force is to “deliver ready, responsive Airborne Early Warning, Battle Management and Command and Control capability to operational commanders in support of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) approved taskings”. To execute the mission in daily operations of the NATO E-3A Component, the unit uses a number of Forward Operating Bases (FOB).
E-3 Operations
Critical role of the NATO AWACS force cannot be exemplified more than with the knowledge that they were engaged in the Gulf crisis and Iraqi war during the nineties and also various Libyan missions, enforcing weapons embargo and no-fly zones. Their operational tasks included those during the war in the Balkans, surveillance missions over the USA shortly after the 9-11 attacks as also monitoring flights over Afghanistan. Presently, operations of the NATO AWACS aircraft include “Assurance Measures”, which are to support Europe’s eastern flank countries following the Crimea conflict and war in the Ukraine, Global Coalition flights to counter threat of the IS in the Middle East and Operation Sea Guardian concerning Mediterranean maritime situational awareness, counter-terrorism capabilities at sea and enhance capacity building. These Assurance Measures flights are part of NATO’s “Readiness Action Plan” to respond swiftly – and firmly – to all security challenges.
Exercise and training
The NATO AWACS force, with some 1400 personnel based at Geilenkirchen, regularly participates in exercises, including the multinational Combined Air Operations (COMOA) in various scenarios. These include such European exercises, in which the E-3A contributes as a High Value Asset (HVA), are Scandinavian Arctic Challenge, the Dutch Frisian Flag and Greek Iniochos.
The standard E-3A AWACS air crew complement consists of the pilot-in-command, first pilot and flight engineer. Under the Tactical Director inside the cabin there are several terminals for operators of the Surveillance and Weapons system plus several airborne technicians. The crew complement is about 15, but when additional efforts are required, these can go up to 33. Fifteen NATO nations supply the required personnel to the NATO E-3A Component, which is reflected in the multinational composition of the flight crew. Continuous training is essential to establish commonality in communication, as well as in procedures and working processes.
So as to keep the cockpit crew current with aerial refuelling skills, NATO AWACS permanently deploy two to three US Air National Guard KC-135 tankers on detachment at Geilenkirchen. The ANG units rotate every two weeks and flying under the Esso call sign, provide training capacity for aerial refuelling at day light or night-time conditions.
Photos and text by Peter ten Berg