Synopsis
In the event of a crisis, how would NATO’s air forces defend its territory? The answer: a complex ballet of radars, both ground-based and airborne, flying petrol stations carrying more than 100,000 litres of jet fuel, supersonic strike fighters and a group of pilots called “Wild Weasels”, who are tasked with taking down enemy air defences. Success depends not on one element alone, but on the combined power of all these elements working together. Allied air forces constantly train to be ready to defend themselves and their NATO Allies, and after years of hard work, they’ve largely developed a set of common tactics and procedures. That way, if worst comes to worst, they can work together quickly and seamlessly. They’re also adapting to a range of new threats, like large-scale bombardments of unmanned aerial vehicles. This short documentary breaks down how air power could defend the Alliance from attack and takes us behind the scenes to meet the troops tasked with securing our skies.
Transcript
—VOICEOVER— “If NATO were attacked, how would Allied air forces defend their territory? It's not just about fighter jets. NATO's air forces rely on a mix of cutting-edge technology, elite training and, most importantly, the kind of teamwork that uses the strengths of 32 Allies to secure the skies. What does that mean, really? And why is it important? Well, if NATO ever had to defend its territory, it would first need to establish what commanders call air superiority. Complete control of the skies. Only then can ground forces get to work without fearing attack from above. But gaining air superiority is much easier said than done”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — GRAPHIC: LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “Overall, you can see it like a boxing match. We are both in the defensive and in the offensive at the same time. And while we are defending ourselves, we are also doing some, so to speak, punches, where we get together a lot of different types of aircraft with different roles, and punch a hole into an enemy's air defence and hit them where it hurts.”. —VOICEOVER— “If this looks complicated, don't worry. We'll break it down for you. Basically, the key to securing the skies is in seeing what's up there. That's a little hard when there’s more than 27 million square kilometres of sky covering NATO airspace. But thanks to an integrated network of radars, we have a pretty good idea of what's up there. In the event of a conflict, however, these radars could be knocked out by strikes, shut down by electronic jamming or switched off by hackers. That's why NATO puts radars in the sky. Meet the Airborne Warning and Control System, or simply AWACS. It's a flying radar with a crew of 30 that can oversee a patch of airspace roughly the size of Poland. Unlike ground-based radars, which can be blocked by rises and falls on the terrain, AWACS can track everything flying low or high”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — GRAPHIC: LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALEX Italian Air Force “The system we have is able to cover 360 degrees around our platform for more than 500 kilometres, ish. And provide the proper information, real time, on any movements that we see in the air. Mainly, we are like an enabler that gives them the possibility to see far, normally than they are and earlier than what their own system will allow”. —VOICEOVER— “NATO owns a fleet of E-3A AWACS aircraft based in Geilenkirchen, Germany, where they're on call to support NATO exercises and operations. Each is staffed by a multinational crew. On any given mission, more than a half dozen NATO Allies are hard at work inside the windowless cabin, peering into radar screens and talking to Allied aircraft on the radio. There's a point to the multinationality”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALEX Italian Air Force “Having the different countries in the AWACS is giving the advantage that every country, from the smallest up to the biggest, they bring their own experience. This experience, together with the standards we have in NATO, makes us fly and accomplish the mission we get tasked for”. —VOICEOVER— “While AWACS watches over the Alliance, it can't protect friendly aircraft from surface-to-air missiles, commonly called SAMs. These missiles can travel at near- hypersonic speeds and reach high into the stratosphere. They're guided by radars that can see aircraft coming from far away. To prevent SAMs from shooting down friendly aircraft, NATO would first have to take out the radars guiding them.” —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “But one of the biggest challenges we have is an opponent's air defence. Because the air defence is not just one system, but norm ally a system of systems. So to peel that onion, as we call it, we need a variety of capabilities”. —VOICEOVER— “And one of those capabilities is a group of talented, potentially crazy pilots called Wild Weasels. It's a silly name, sure, but the job is no joke. Their mission is to fly ahead of the main force and take out the radars that guide SAMs to their targets”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — GRAPHIC: CAPTAIN NICK MONDRAGON US Air Force “First in, last out, that’s kind of what we all know that we’re going to be asked to do. We’re going to be the first ones in on the leading edge of the larger force package to try and get them to turn on, and look at us so we can suppress that threat”. —VOICEOVER— “The Weasels use a specialised missile called a HARM, short for high-speed anti-radiation missile, that hones in on the radar’s signal, forcing it to either shut down or risk destruction. But if they can find the radar, that means the radar can find them”. “Do you have the most stressful job in the world?” —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — CAPTAIN NICK MONDRAGON US Air Force “Biased answer, I would say yes. I'm sure others would disagree with me. It's a very stressful job. It's one of those things where, yes, it is dangerous. It's an inherently dangerous mission set, but we are very prepared as a squadron, as an air force as a whole, to take on that very challenging mission set”. —VOICEOVER— “With the threat of surface-to-air missiles minimised, the Weasels have opened the door for Allied fighter jets.” —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “When the enemy's air defence is down, that gives us air superiority to actually attack what we need to attack on the ground”. —VOICEOVER— “NATO Allies operate more than a dozen types of combat aircraft, supersonic jets designed to take on multiple missions at the same time, from bombing raids to dogfights, to providing close air support for Allied troops on the ground. With fighters from different nations taking off from different bases on around-the-clock combat missions, this would be an extremely complicated undertaking. But it's made easier by the fact that, after decades of training together, NATO's fighter pilots can work together seamlessly”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — GRAPHIC: LIEUTENANT COLONEL RAMI LINDSTRÖM Finnish Air Force “We have basically the same manuals. Stronger together, that's not just a buzzword. And I believe in that. That when we are able to work together, to get to know each other, that’s strong.” —VOICEOVER— “To command such a counter-attack would push NATO's mission planners to the max. How do you control something this complicated? The answer might surprise you: by controlling it as little as possible”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “Controlling from thousands of kilometres away is not the best way to do it. Actually, training our pilot to take the decisions on the battlefield in the air and making them good at that, is what achieves the success of the NATO air power”. —VOICEOVER— “After defeating hostile radars and SAM sites and pulling off the complex art of air-to-air combat, NATO's air forces would then encounter a surprisingly simple problem. Fuel. Fighters burn jet fuel at an astonishing rate, and after deep strikes or intense air- to-air combat, running out of gas is a real concern. That's why NATO Allies have a fleet of aircraft designed specifically to refuel other aircraft in mid-air. These massive air-to-air refuellers are like flying petrol stations. They carry 130,000 litres of jet fuel and can pump it into friendly fighters at a rate of more than 4,000 litres per minute”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — GRAPHIC: LIEUTENANT COLONEL TIM German Air Force “So biggest advantage of us refuelling them in the air on the spot is to extend their time in the air and, their range, if we will drag them from A to B, for example, that's the most prominent point”. —VOICEOVER— “For gas-thirsty jets on their way home from a long mission, they're a sight for sore eyes. But linking up might be harder than it seems”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “You have teached from the beginning of the pilot's career that ‘don't hit anything with the airplane’. And now once you do air refuelling, you have to hit something. But it is a different way of flying, let’s say so”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL TIM German Air Force “We're trying to provide the most stable platform that we can be, so we're flying the most predictable way, we're matching speeds, we're pre-arranging speeds that we’ll both fly and then it’s a lot of pre-arrangement and predictability”. —VOICEOVER— “This is, more or less, how NATO would defend its airspace against conventional attack. But recent years have introduced new threats that Allies must account for. In Ukraine, for example, millions live under a near-constant onslaught of armed drones used by Russia to hit both civilian and military targets. These drones are slow and clumsy, but they can be deployed by the thousands. NATO Allies are developing new tools to counter this threat at any scale. In the meantime, quick-reaction jets are on a 24-hour alert to repel any intrusions into our airspace. At the end of the day, securing the skies takes more than cutting-edge tech, or even bravery. It takes a lot of practice. Ask any NATO air force officer what sets them apart, and they'll say… —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARTIN FRIIS Royal Danish Air Force “…well-trained pilots. And with 32 nations, we kind of challenge each other, which means that we are constantly getting better, instead of just taking the rulebook and following it”. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — CAPTAIN NICK MONDRAGON US Air Force “You kind of have to rely on your training, rely on your preparedness and readiness that you have. I think in terms of being able to integrate with foreign partners, you definitely have an unmatched capability to do that here in Europe, just with the close proximity to them, which I think only enhances our lethality, one as a unit, but as an air force as well”. This video includes Getty Images’ and its third parties’ and third-party contributors’ copyrighted material licensed by NATO, which cannot be used as part of a new production without Getty Images’ consent. For any use, please contact Getty Images: service.gi.bnl@gettyimages.com. This video also contains Thomson Reuters copyrighted library material licensed by NATO, which cannot be used as part of a new production without consent of the copyright holder. Please contact Thomson Reuters to clear this material.
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