CNN accompanied NATO’s 2nd Flying Squadron on one such surveillance mission on Thursday. Within two hours of takeoff at 8:00 CET, a radar aboard the NATO AWACS aircraft (short for Airborne Warning and Control System) spotted about a dozen Russian-made aircraft idle in Belarus north of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Denis Guillaume, director of NATO tactics, told CNN.
The “overwhelming majority” of the Russian-made fighter jets that NATO forces have seen invading Ukrainian airspace since the start of the Russian invasion were made in Belarus, the NATO mission’s technical director told CNN during a flight on Thursday. According to him, on one particularly “active” day last week, NATO forces saw about 20 Russian aircraft heading to Kyiv from Belarus. A military plane that took off from Belarus and entered Ukrainian airspace was supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine, NATO pilots told CNN.
Among the major questions looming over the war was whether Belarusian forces entered the conflict directly to support Russia. But NATO troops said they couldn’t answer that question: They say Belarus and Russia use the same Soviet-era MiG-29s, so it’s hard to tell in real time who’s actually operating them. They noted that Ukrainian pilots also use MiG-29s, so it is also unclear how contested Ukrainian airspace has become.
However, some signs are clear, they say. For example, the planes flying to Ukraine from Russia’s allied Belarus are clearly not Ukrainian.
The AWACS aircraft that CNN took off on Thursday is one of the few military assets owned by NATO itself rather than donated by a member nation, and a fleet of 14 AWACS aircraft together fly almost two dozen missions a week, spying more than 400 kilometers to east. ensure that no hostile aircraft are flown into NATO airspace.
The missions are routine but have become especially “intense” since Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the co-pilots told CNN. Over the past few weeks, NATO has bolstered the defenses of members of the eastern flank, and Thursday’s observation flight was particularly long and required aerial refueling.
During the AWACS mission on Thursday, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft circled over Belarus, conducting a similar reconnaissance in the opposite direction, the pilots noted. It has become commonplace, as have Russian fighter jets – mostly MiG-29s – performing defensive exercises in the vicinity.
The Russians also attempted to jam the radar of the NATO aircraft, which is unfortunate but unavoidable given how visible the giant spy plane is.
“It’s not a secret that we’re here and we don’t want it to be a secret,” said NATO’s technical director.
One of the questions the pilots vehemently refused to answer was whether the intelligence they had collected, which was allegedly intended only for members of the NATO alliance, was being passed on to Kiev.
“I cannot answer that question,” said Guillaume firmly.
“The only thing I can tell you right now is that we, as NATO Allies, share data with NATO countries,” repeated the NATO CTO.
However, what NATO member countries do with this intelligence is up to them, the NATO CTO hinted.
This caution reflects NATO’s tense stance as the war drags on: as an organization, it continues to emphasize that it is not an active participant in the conflict and does not provide direct assistance to Ukraine so as not to risk provoking further Russian aggression, which some fears may even include an attack on NATO territory. .
But its member states, including the US and the UK, have been openly touting their intelligence and military contributions to Ukraine that were clearly intended to stall the advance of the Russian military.
However, the NATO reconnaissance aircraft is capable not only of collecting intelligence information, but also of tactical operations, if necessary. During Thursday’s mission, for example, the aircraft flew fighter jets on the Polish-Belarusian border “in case there is a threat to NATO territory,” Guillaume said.
However, any action “must comply with the rules of engagement,” he added. “We are still in a state of peace.”