NATO’s E-3
Sentry AWACS are Now Operating from Norway’s Rygge Air Base
August
29, 2024 Military Aviation
A NATO E-3 Sentry AWACS arrives at Norway’s Rygge Air Station in connection with Nordic Response 2024. (Image credit: Onar Dignes Ase/Forsvaret)
The AWACS, described
as NATO’s ‘eyes in the skies’, usually employed Ørland as forward base, however
this time it was decided to deploy the aircraft to Rygge, with at least two
E-3s already operating from there.
The Norwegian
military announced last
week that its Rygge air base, in the southern part of the country, will begin
frequently hosting NATO’s E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control
System) aircraft. This is owing to the unavailability of the runway at Ørland
in western Norway, which led to Rygge being chosen, the statement from the
Norwegian Armed Forces said on Aug. 22, 2024.
Interestingly, the
notice came a day prior to the threat alert at the NATO air base in Geilenkirchen,
in far-western Germany, on Aug. 23, which saw personnel being evacuated until
the alert was deactivated. The base is home to the NAEW&CF (NATO Airborne
Early Warning and Control Force) E-3A Component.
Subsequent reports by
German media said that the alert was owing to indications of “preparatory
actions for a likely Russian act of sabotage,” although a NATO spokesperson
later denied. “The word Russia was never mentioned,” said the spokesperson to
Reuters. “We talked about a threat caused by drones.”
E-3s from the
NAEW&CF had already operated from Rygge during the Nordic Response 2024
exercise, held from Feb. 26 to Mar. 15. Flight tracking data three days after
the announcement, on Aug. 25,
also showed an E-3 Sentry (callsign NATO40) operating between Rygge and Denmark
over the North Sea. Again on Aug. 28 and Aug. 29, two
E-3s (callsigns NATO01 and NATO06) were circling the length from northern
Norway over the Norwegian Sea to northern Germany in two separate routes,
operating from Rygge.
Sjekk hele saken her: https://tinyurl.com/4p9z837b
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