NATO wants to send E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft to the Middle East in October to aid the US-led coalition’s counterterrorism efforts against the Islamic State militant group, Defense News reported Monday.
Valerie Insinna writes NATO Deputy General Alexander Vershbow told reporters the alliance’s fleet of 16 E-3 AWACS planes can help coalition members conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities.
He added that NATO will hold a defense ministers meeting at the end of October and the alliance hopes that the E-3 mission will be underway by that time, according to the report.
E-3 AWACS, designed and manufactured by Boeing, works to detect, identify and display hostile and friendly aircraft at a range of more than 200 miles.
