NATO surveillance plane watches Russia's activity in Ukraine

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Ukraine has asked our community to respect a new information blackout in regards to the Kherson region; as such we ask that you to adhere to (and we will enforce) this blackout.

It's probably a feint.

Next thing we hear we've taken Moscow.

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👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/AutoModerator 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

Its funny to me that these things are worth hundreds of millions if not tipping into the billions and the computers all look 30 years old.

👍︎︎ 31 👤︎︎ u/Clcooper423 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

The US, Portugal, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain and Germany all on one plane and with one purpose.

👍︎︎ 29 👤︎︎ u/Infamous_Ad8209 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

Fun fact: all NATO AWACS are registered as being part of the Luxembourg armed forces.

👍︎︎ 19 👤︎︎ u/Ensi_of_ninkasi 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

I keep observing these and other machines with special abilities on flightradar. They fly more or less constantly. Sometimes they turn on their transponders. That's the equivalent of a "finger" thrown in the sky

👍︎︎ 13 👤︎︎ u/muffenengel 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

One of my former assignments.. ❤️

👍︎︎ 11 👤︎︎ u/Life-Improvement-886 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

Found this rather interesting. It's an aspect that is rarely covered.

👍︎︎ 29 👤︎︎ u/LordMinax 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

Master Sergeant, "When you see Russian jets get f#cked by Ukranians. That was me."

I like this woman.

👍︎︎ 28 👤︎︎ u/pbamma 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies

lol Russia's cardboard army can't compete with this.

👍︎︎ 9 👤︎︎ u/Brent_17000 📅︎︎ Oct 22 2022 🗫︎ replies
Captions
We're getting ready for an early morning  departure on board this NATO surveillance   aircraft. With that Dome it can  see hundreds of kilometers into   the distance and watch what the Russians  are doing in and around Ukraine on the   land, sea and air. It's taken us months  to get this access. Come and join us. As the sun comes up, the surveillance plane lifts  off from its base in Germany on what will be a   minimum 12 hour mission. They're bound to the  very edge of NATO airspace, flying high above   Poland, just outside Ukraine's war zone. The massive  radar and surveillance tools are now switched on. Obviously in Crimea, there is  really, really a lot of activity. Much on this AWACS plane or Airborne Warning  and Command is secret. We can't show it. We can't even tell you the last  name of the surveillance operator. Portuguese Sergeant João. Basically everything  that we are able to detect we obviously share with our NATO allies. What no one on this  plane can officially say but is widely known is   that some of those allies share this intelligence  in real time with the Ukrainians, allowing them to   respond quickly to incoming threats. This is what  they call a sanitized version of this screen. It doesn't show everything that's, that this aircraft  can see. But we are told that it can do things like   Russian fighter jets certainly, but even Russian  missiles, Russian drones, ships that might be   out there. They can identify which ship using the  powerful surveillance suite that is on board this   aircraft. And of course feed all that information  all that intelligence in real time to the ground. On camera none of the crew can say  exactly what they're detecting right   now. The information relayed by an instant  data link. Nor will they describe specific   events on the ground. They don't want  the Russians to know what they know. Particularly incidents where their  surveillance was used by the Ukrainians. But off camera, some describe watching Russian  radar signatures disappear after being engaged   by Ukrainian Jets and missiles, early warnings  too of incoming bombing or missile raids.   Watching Russian troop movements and the  exact position of Russian warships at sea.   Senior Master Sergeant Alyssa is on the electronic  front line watching Russian positions alerting   others when Russian planes fly into Ukraine, and then seeing the response. When we watch   the Ukrainian Fighters taking off and protecting  their airspace and going after Russian Fighters... That was neat. Probably more than neat? It was. It was cool. They're fighting back and   they're taking control of the country they  love and they're pushing the Russians out. An alarm sounds unexpectedly in flight, only a  simulation, but the treats it as real. A drill in   the event of fire on board. These are tense times,  especially as Russia rattles the nuclear saber   inviting a far more direct military engagement by  NATO. An hour later, on the flight deck, pilots are   engaging in a delicate Airborne dance a mid-flight  refueling. Up there is a U.S Air Force tanker a gas   station in the sky. Carefully the NATO plane edges  up as a boom pool is extended from the tanker. For   nearly half an hour the gas is pumped. The pilots  of both planes synchronized in their movements.   After it's done, we catch up with the aircraft  Commander, an American Major Wayne. After years   of such work, including in war zones, he says this  mission is something else. The big difference was   the adversary. So in the Middle East, they didn't  have capable, um a capable Air Force threat that we   were so concerned about. Whereas here, there is the  possibility of a much greater threat in the air. Russia doesn't particularly like this sharing of  information of intelligence, powerful intelligence  with the Ukrainians and so periodically, they  launched their own fighter jets, scrambled them at   this one and these aircraft sometimes has to take  evasive action. It's not like they're shooting at   one another but does give you a sense of  how NATO does have involvement, really, in   the Ukrainian conflict. This aircraft is one of 14  in NATO's surveillance Fleet and along with similar   planes operated directly by allies, they maintain  a near constant watch of Ukraine's airspace. That crew comes from a multitude of NATO nations,   a multi-year posting from their home countries. The   person flying the plane right now is from  Belgium and back there a Canadian. This is   Captain Colin Wiley, as surveillance controller he  confirms and rapidly communicates inbound threats. Seeing things like oh disappearing at a low level. What does that mean? Probably dropping bombs, right?   They can't necessarily prevent them. That is  the job of the Ukrainians. It is his first   experience where all his training is playing  out in reality on the screen in front of him. I wake up in the morning from my bed, fly orbits over here on the eastern flank doing the job, and then I go back and sleep in  my own bed at night, which is crazy for me. It's   a crazy experience and it also makes me think  about those who are, you know, involved in it   who don't get to go to you know a safe warm bed  at the end of the day. It doesn't end for them. As the AWACS turns back to its base, another  like it is already in the sky, taking up its   station near the conflict, feeding a constant  stream of intelligence as War rages in Europe. So David, it's a really interesting look inside one  of those and and I know that so much about the   planes and so much about their mission remains  secret but, but, can you give us a sense of what   actually happens with the data. Yeah. Absolutely. So  there's the official and unofficial. The official   is that it gets transmitted very quickly down to  an operation center on the ground. Unofficially   some of the Allies are then sharing it with the  Ukrainians, who have their own surveillance and   radar on the ground. And they layer all of that  information, one on top of the other, to give   them a big picture of what's happening on the  battlefield. Not just in the moment like right   now, but what the Russians might be planning next. So AWACS have been used in all sorts of conflicts   for a very long time. But, but what makes this one  especially different? Well certainly the size of   it. This is a big conflict. But also the potential  for danger. You know it's not lost on those who   are up in that plane, what if they're there when a  nuclear device is used on the ground. What happens   then? What if biological and chemical weapons are  introduced say by the Russians and they see that   missile launch. There's also the potential for  danger to them. You know whether accidental or   otherwise, what happens if they get targeted by  a Russian plane while they're in the sky and   then of course you see what happens. NATO gets  pulled in much more deeply than it is right now   and we're into a very, very big war. Well really  appreciate your look there. Thank you. Thank you
Info
Channel: CBC News: The National
Views: 2,223,693
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: nato, canadian military, russia attacks ukraine, russia ukraine war, putin, vladimir putin, kyiv, russia reaction, ukraine, russia, ukraine war, war in ukraine, russia ukraine, war in ukraine latest news, David Common, The National, CBC
Id: mZYCLJDWckY
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 8min 32sec (512 seconds)
Published: Wed Oct 19 2022
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