Video

Video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Abraham Essenmacher

TRIDENT JUNCTURE 2018 - NATO Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) Interviews

Allied Joint Force Command Naples

Oct. 25, 2018 | 3:44

Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) NATO aircraft assigned to the NATO Airborne Early Warning (NAE&W) conducted flights in Norwegian air space Thursday (25 October 2018), to train with allied nations participating in Exercise Trident Juncture 18. Trident Juncture brings together 250 aircraft with the AWACS portion of the exercise testing abilities to gather and distribute information ranging from weather conditions, other aerial contacts, intelligence and relay this information to commanders to assist in better informed decision capabilities.

A typical AWACS unit utilizes 14 personnel to fly, navigate and perform surveillance duties while in flight. Flight time may range from 9-16 hours per flight and the information when distributed has the potential to provide better command and control of a war fighting environment.

TRJE18 offers the ideal venue to focus NATO Air combat service support capabilities in support of deployed Air Operations, thus providing a testing ground for Smart Defense Initiative Project 1.16 by setting up and operating a NATO Deployed Air Base within that exercise environment.

Video by MC1(SW/AW) Abraham Essenmacher, U.S. Navy, Assigned to Allied Command Transformation, Strategic Communications

Shot-list
00:15:20
Senior Master Sergeant Andrea Boschen
AWACS Surveillance Operator
DEU Air Force
SOUNDBITE (English)
Question 1: Describe your role aboard the AWACS during this exercise.
“So my role as data-link manager is important for everybody. So for the WEP controller that the fighter aircraft are getting all the information they need, that ships and also ground forces get the information. Also we gather information from other platforms that are participating in this unit.”
Question 2: How do you prepare for your mission in order to be effective?
“It starts already internally that we have all worked together. Without my communication technician I am unable to go up into the link, and these are the guys to the left and right of me. Everybody here is working as a team and without one we are not a team anymore.”
Question 3: How would you measure success?
“Measuring success is really, that we have, a really huge common shared picture of this exercise that everybody is always in the view of what’s going on.”
01:27:21
Captain Christoph Zurman
AWACS Aircraft Commander
DEU Air Force
(SOUNDBITE, English)
Question 1: As Aircraft Commander, what is your tasking during the exercise?
“our tasking is to bring our mission crew into the right position, in the right orbit to continue with their task which is then controlling the fight and provide a stable command and control platform for other participants of the exercise.”
Question 2: What mission capability do you have and how does it work into the exercise?
“The big radar rotor dome on top, which gives us the capability to be an airborne radar and the airborne command and control platform. So we are like a knob between several players within the exercise or also in life.”
Question 3: What do you hope you and your team gain from the exercise?
“So for us it’s like an integration of different units, different nations. It’s kind of like dancing and changing your partner. It’s still the same dance it takes one or two days to get into it. So that would be a nice thing to take away here. It’s also special for the younger crew members that have not been in a large exercise yet. That’s a thing to take away and of course flight time. Flight time is training so it’s always valuable.”
02:54:45
Captain Derrick Birdsell
AWACS Fighter Allocator
USA, Air Force
(SOUNDBITE, English)
Question 1: What is the value of this 3-A AWACS aircraft?
“The big picture is that we’re providing recognizable air pictures to the commanders on the ground so they can make decisions and we’re also providing the control for fighters that are flying and executing.”
Question 2: Who are you communicating and sharing information with during Trident Juncture 18?
“So for this exercise we’re synchronizing with ground units both in Sweden and in Norway along with the aircraft from all the countries that are participating.”
Question 3: What experience to you hope to gain from Trident Juncture 18?
“It’s always about the international cooperation, working with people from all the different countries. Seeing how they do things differently than us and just taking the
lessons learned from large force exercise and hopefully we can use that going forward.”

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