Inside the Mission "Oriental Guard": How is reconnaissance against Russia and Belarus (photo)

And the E-3 Sentry reconnaissance aircraft departs from the Haylenkirchen Air Base in Germany as part of the Oriental Valt Mission, which was started to counteract Russia and its ally Belarus, CNN writes. The crew included military personnel from different NATO countries, including the USA, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Romania and Turkey. "These missions mean a lot to us. When we patrol these borders, they are our borders.

It is important for us to be here," said CNN CNN US Air Force Stephen Vanon. The E-3 flew along a given route over Poland's airspace, watching aircraft over the Russian exclusive Kaliningrad, as well as over the Belarus and the Baltic Sea. Although several Russian military aircraft were flying in these areas, all of them were obviously operating within the airspace of Russia and Belarus. However, NATO notes that the Alliance calls provocative actions by Russia.

On September 9, about 20 Russian drones rejected from the course from the territory of Ukraine towards Poland, which forced the fighters of several NATO countries to rise into the air. Russia claims that it did not send its UAV specifically. On September 13, Russian UAVs violated Romania's airspace, forcing Bucharest to lift fighter jets.

And later in Estonia, according to NATO, three Russian MiG-31 fighters flew over the Alliance for 12 minutes-eternity for fighters-before they were intercepted by NATO-based planes. Russia claims that its planes have not crossed NATO aircraft, but the Alliance claims that the Kremlin is lying. Recently, UAVs have been violated by air connections in Denmark, in particular near military facilities.

The Danish authorities could not establish who was responsible for what she called a "hybrid attack", although Mette Prime Minister Frederixen says it was Russian provocation. The NATO representative told CNN reporters that the guard plane from Gaylenkirchen was near the scene in Estonia when the incident occurred. NATO now increases the number of departures of these reconnaissance aircraft against the background of increased tension between Russia and the West.

"We are part of a long command of command and management. Therefore, our main task is to identify, track, identify and report the event," says Vanon. The E-3 fuselage has a giant rotating antenna of the radar station. It allows operators to track aircraft up to 650 kilometers if they fly high. Objects flying below can be detected at a distance of about 400 kilometers, but the aircraft sensors can also see land equipment and ships in the sea far beyond NATO borders.

Observation experts, such as US Air Force Captain Jacob Anderson, are called planes that potentially move to NATO borders, "traces of interest", which can cause further action from the flight crew E-3. In the event of danger, they inform the local ministries and they trigger fighters for interception. If NATO decides to intercept Russian or other planes, the E-3 crew will also act as a dispatcher of battle space, directing the Alliance interceptors for purposes.

To do all this, the plane has to be in the air for a very long time. Although the mission of CNN journalists has lasted eight hours, in other cases, flights can easily last more than 15 hours. Therefore, the pilots need to be able to refuel in the air, which is a difficult task for the E-3 aircraft, the size of a commercial airliner. "It is very difficult at first.

Even just overcome the fear of the thought that we are approaching this plane at almost 3 meters," said US Air Force Major Jason Sanchez, one of the pilots. The crew also worked out fire training in flight and boarding "after arriving at NATO base in Gaylenkirchen, preparing for any potential emergencies during missions, which, according to the leadership of the Defense Alliance, are key to containing Russia.

"The Russian recklessness in the airspace along our eastern flank is becoming more and more frequent. " Oriental guard "will add strength to our position," NATO Rutte, Secretary of NATO Rutte, recently said. We will remind, Focus wrote about the new mission of NATO "Oriental Valt", which was launched in response to the actions of Russia.