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
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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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.
The US, Portugal, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain and Germany all on one plane and with one purpose.
Fun fact: all NATO AWACS are registered as being part of the Luxembourg armed forces.
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
One of my former assignments.. ❤️
Found this rather interesting. It's an aspect that is rarely covered.
Master Sergeant, "When you see Russian jets get f#cked by Ukranians. That was me."
I like this woman.
lol Russia's cardboard army can't compete with this.