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NATO to deploy AWACS jets to Romania for surveillance on Russia

The aircraft are scheduled to arrive on January 17, 2023

BRUSSELS, January 13. /TASS/. NATO is set to deploy its AWACS surveillance jets in Romania by January 17 to monitor Russia’s activities, the bloc said on Friday.

"NATO prepares a deployment Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance planes to Bucharest, Romania. The aircraft are scheduled to arrive on January 17, 2023 and are going to support the Alliance’s reinforced presence in the region and monitor Russian military activity," the alliance said in a statement.

The Romanian Defense Ministry said the planes will be stationed at Air Force base No. 90 at the town of Otopeni.

"The AWACS planes will perform surveillance and monitoring flights over the territory of the alliance in the upcoming period," the ministry said in a statement.

The DPA news service reported, citing military sources, that the plan involved three aircraft.

The Boeing E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are designed to monitor airspace. They are capable of detecting and tracking aerial objects at a distance of up to 400 kilometers but they also carry out reconnaissance of the situation on the ground, though less effectively. Since Crimea’s reunification with Russia and the start of the conflict in Donbass in 2014, these NATO aircraft have been regularly conducting flights over the Black Sea. NATO uses AWACS aircraft capable of in-flight refueling, which significantly expands their operation range and extends flight duration.

These planes were earlier based at an Air Force base in Geilenkirchen in western Germany. Their re-location to Romania will allow them to start surveillance of the Ukrainian airspace and the western parts of the Black Sea almost immediately upon takeoff.

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