The NATO Airborne Early Warning Force

In the early 1970s, studies directed by NATO's major military commanders showed that an airborne early warning (AEW) radar system would significantly enhance the Alliance's air defence capability. In December 1978 the Defence planning Committee signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy and operate a NATO-owned AEW system. As a result of this decision the member nations embarked upon NATO's largest commonly funded acquisition programme.

NATO E3A
Note the smaller engines and no wing tip ESM pods. The ESM system is in the bulge aft of the cockpit
(Image: NATO)
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The NAEW Force was established in January 1980 and granted full NATO Command Headquarters status by NATO's Defence Planning Committee on 17 October 1980. Force Command Headquarters is collocated with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. While the NAEW Force supports both major NATO commands - Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT) and Allied Command Europe (ACE) - SHAPE exercises administrative control of the force.

The NATO E-3A Component of the command operates 17 Boeing E-3A aircraft. A second component was planned to consist of 11 British Nimrod AEW Mk3 aircraft, but the programme was canceled in December 1986 and the British government acquired 7 Boeing E-3D Sentry Mk1's to form the UK's E-3D Component at RAF Waddington, England.

Multi-nationality is a key characteristic of the AWACS programme. It involves 14 NATO countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungry, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States.

NATO TCA
(Image: NATO)
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The NATO E-3A Component operates 17 NATO-owned AWACS E-3A aircraft and 3 cargo/transport aircraft (TCA) from Geilenkirchen, Germany. The squadrons are manned by integrated international crews from the participating nations. The 3 TCA's are used for pilot instruction and cargo/passenger transport. Part of the operational fleet, these aircraft can be quickly converted from an all-passenger configuration into an all-cargo configuration or a combination of the two. The UK Component also use the TCA's when operating in NATO Operations or Exercises abroad.

The fleet regularly deploys to the forward operating bases (FOB's) at Konya in Turkey, Preveza in Greece, Trapani in Italy and to the forward operating location (FOL) in Oerland, Norway.