The pilots are working on the cockpit of an AWACS aircraft at Melsbroek Military Airport in Melsbroek, Belgium. As Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine accelerated earlier this year, NATO military planners began preparing to send several fighter jets and surveillance aircraft into the skies near Russia and Ukraine. It was a warning to Moscow not to make the mistake of targeting any member state. Even in the weeks leading up to the war, politicians and analysts were divided over whether President Vladimir Putin would actually order Russian troops to invade. From a military point of view, however, the forces lined up around Ukraine seemed designed to do just that. It was urgent to put more eyes on the sky and closely connect NATO aircraft, warships, surface-to-air missile systems and radar installations to protect the east side of the alliance. “We are watching very closely,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week. “Information, the best possible awareness of the situation, is of course extremely critical in such a dangerous situation as we see now in Ukraine.” In the wake of the February 24 invasion, the alliance’s Combined Air Operations Center in Uedem, West Germany, changed gears. Dozens of troops now simultaneously operate up to 30 aircraft in the skies from the northern tip of Norway to Slovakia. From an underground shelter on quiet agricultural land, patrol planes are diverted to track down suspicious Russian planes. The 15-minute stand-by jets regularly run Alpha Scrambled from across Europe to intercept unknown aircraft near NATO airspace. More than 100 aircraft can fly high every day, mixed with the approximately 30,000 civilian flights that take place daily in the European skies. Six Boeing E-3A surveillance aircraft from NATO’s aging fleet of early warning and control aircraft help create an “air image” for sharing with Member States. These “eyes in the sky” do not fly to Ukraine or Russia, but can see up to 400 kilometers across the border. Fighter jets also provide information on what is happening in part of two warring countries. These “assets” are sometimes shipped from western France, refueled in the air and can patrol the border area for about an hour before returning. The 30-nation military alliance is wary of being drawn into a wider war with Russia, so borders and airspace are meticulously guarded. “There is always the fog of war and we do not want to have NATO means with us because even unintentionally you may have some losses,” said Lt. Gen. Harold Van Pee, commander of NATO’s Uedem facility. The most sensitive areas for unknown aircraft are the Kola Peninsula – on the high northern border of Russia and Norway – the Gulf of Finland approaching the Russian city of St. Petersburg and the skies around the Kaliningrad Pole between Russia and Poland. . From their computer screens, NATO personnel can also watch cruise missiles, such as those used by Russia last month to pound a military training base in western Ukraine near NATO member Poland, killing 35 people. But shading them with aircraft is a high-risk endeavor, especially at night, in bad weather or when rockets hug the ground, flying so low that electrical pylons and cables become a danger. “We have to be convinced that there is a credible threat” to follow one, Van Pee said. A less obvious challenge to NATO airspace is rogue drones. Military officials say Russia is using powerful electromagnetic devices to intercept communications that could disrupt remote-controlled flights. Last month, a military drone flew uncontrollably from Ukraine through the airspace of three members – Romania, Hungary and Croatia – before crashing into the Croatian capital. Some parked cars were damaged, but no one was injured. The drone weighed a little over 6 tons. Both Russia and Ukraine have denied any wrongdoing. NATO military officials and officials declined to comment until the investigation was completed. “Even if you fly next to one of these drones, will you do anything about it?” You have to ask yourself, because if you knock it down, you will definitely damage the ground. If you let it fly, we hope it will crash into the sea. I mean, you do not know, “said Van Pi. Whether it is a rogue drone or a missile threat, political and legal experts are supposed to be involved in any decision to shoot down something. Despite the war in its backyard, NATO operates under strict rules in peacetime and is determined to keep it that way. “Before you start using violence, there must be an immediate threat to either NATO forces or NATO populations. “This is a crisis decision, and it is always difficult to make,” said Van Pee.
