NATO surveillance intensifies with AWACS and ARTEMIS flights
On 2nd April, numerous aircraft appeared over Poland and neighbouring countries to monitor the situation beyond NATO's eastern borders. In addition to reconnaissance aircraft, a NATO flying tanker also circled over the central part of the country. Who had dispatched their planes over Poland?
The Polish AWACS, specifically two Saab 340 AEW aircraft acquired from Sweden, reached operational readiness in November 2024. Since then, they have regularly appeared over Poland, conducting lengthy flights. One of these aircraft, the Saab 340 with the callsign Thunder1, was circling in the areas of Lublin and Chełm.
The aircraft's unusual route was worthy of note. The Saab 340 AEW is equipped with an Erieye radar, which due to its design has a blind spot at the front and rear. For this reason, aircraft of this type typically conduct patrols along borders on a north-south trajectory.
This time, the Polish AWACS's route was latitudinal, meaning that areas to the north and south of the aircraft were under constant surveillance.
American plane with ARTEMIS system
Part of the route of the American Bombardier Challenger 650 ARTEMIS aircraft also passed over Poland. This is a US Army reconnaissance plane equipped with the ARTEMIS system (Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-Mission Intelligence System). The American aircraft was circling around the Kaliningrad Oblast.
ARTEMIS is a new system introduced into service in 2019, integrating ISR functions (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), SIGINT (Signals Intelligence), and ELINT (Electronic Intelligence, which is part of SIGINT).
NATO flying tanker
In the depths of Polish airspace, distinctive wide ovals between Gniezno and Toruń were traced in the sky by a NATO flying tanker, the Airbus A330 MRTT. This is a large, versatile machine (MRTT - Multi Role Tanker Transport), which can function as a transport aircraft or, as was most likely the case here, a flying tanker.
This aircraft provides support for military jets, which, although generally invisible in publicly available flight-tracking services, regularly patrol over Poland.
NATO aerial reconnaissance
Simultaneously, a Swedish reconnaissance aircraft, the Gulfstream IV (SVF680), was patrolling over Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, an American RC-135V Rivet Joint reconnaissance plane (JAKE17) was en route over the Black Sea, and another Bombardier Challenger 650 ARTEMIS was patrolling along the eastern border of Romania. A Latvian Mi-17 helicopter also conducted a patrol along the border with Russia.
