According to the commander of the Air Force, Colonel Antanas Matutis, this is a way to get operational information about the activities of the “aggressive neighbor” in the region.
“Every time an aircraft with reconnaissance capabilities disperses in the region, it’s natural that we see what our neighbor is doing, what he’s up to, and that gives us the opportunity to respond accordingly and make the appropriate decisions for our command,” Air Force One told reporters on Friday. commander
According to him, there are not many such aircraft in NATO, therefore the deployment of two of them in Lithuania shows great attention to the region.
“I would not associate with the increase of the threat today. It’s simply a desire to see what our neighbor is doing so we don’t have a surprise later,” he said.
Colonel Maurizio Maggio, commander of NATO’s AWACS unit, said these aircraft can detect objects “miles away” from their positions, which allows for more accurate decisions and better situational awareness.
“The more information we have to understand what’s happening at our border, the better,” he said.
“It is a powerful, flexible and deployable capability for air and sea reconnaissance,” the commander added.
According to him, these missions “do not have any hostile intentions” and have been taking place since Russia invaded Crimea and this time will not be “anything out of the ordinary”.
At the Air Force Base in Zokniai, one AWACS aircraft has been performing tasks since Thursday, and the second one will arrive on Friday. At the same time, a contingent of about 150 soldiers from 16 countries is being deployed.
The aircraft based on the Boeing 707 liner provides airspace surveillance, control, communication and can see missiles, military activity, determine the coordinates of various systems and possible directions of shots at a distance of about 400 kilometers.
From a dozen to 30 people can work in it, who provide information about the necessary parameters in real time.
AWACS planes will carry out surveillance of Russian military activities. They will begin reconnaissance flights over Alliance territory in the coming days.
The aircraft arrived in Lithuania from Turkey, where they performed the assigned tasks. Since last February, NATO AWACS planes have carried out hundreds of flights over Northern and Eastern Europe to monitor Russian military activity.
They are part of the NATO reconnaissance aircraft fleet based in Geilenkirchen, Germany.
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