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NATO spy planes heading to Romania to monitor Russian moves

Friday, 13 January 2023 5:26 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 13 January 2023 7:00 PM ]

NATO AWACS aircraft (Photo by AFP)

NATO says it is set to deploy three surveillance planes to Romania next week to perform reconnaissance missions, strengthening Romania’s eastern flank and to “monitor Russian military activity.”

In a statement on Friday, the military alliance said that the three of Airborne Warning and Control System planes (AWACS) will be sent on Tuesday to an air base near Romania’s capital, Bucharest, on a mission expected to last several weeks.

According to NATO’s spokeswoman Oana Lungescu, AWACS aircraft, which belong to a fleet of 14 usually based in Germany, are “capable of detecting planes hundreds of kilometers away, making them a key capability for NATO’s deterrence and defense posture.”

Each AWACS aircraft can typically stay in the air for eight and a half hours at an altitude of 9,000 meters (30,000 feet). In Addition, it can monitor an area as large as Poland while flying and increase its flight time by air-to-air refueling.

Around 180 military personnel will be stationed at Romania’s Otopeni Air Base to support NATO’s AWACS aircraft.

NATO, EU vow to step up support for Ukraine

NATO and the EU have vowed to ramp up cooperation to back Ukraine, which is fighting a war with Russia.

Since the start of Russia’s “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine, the Western military alliance has strengthened its presence in Eastern Europe with fighter jets, surveillance planes, and aerial tankers.

The alliance has also begun regular patrols over Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea region to track Russian jets near NATO borders.

Media reports also say that one of the eight multinational NATO battle groups in Eastern Europe is deployed in Romania in deterrence and defense mode.

Moscow has seized around a fifth of Ukraine’s expanse in its south and east. It has conditioned negotiations on a possible end to the military campaign on Ukraine’s recognition of Russian rule over the seized territories.

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