UK orders Boeing E7...
Originally Posted by Wensleydale
More than three would be good - I agree. However, the aircraft are allocated to the NATO AEW and Control Force tasked by NATO, and therefore numbers include the E-3A fleet at Geilenkirchen (which has also reduced since the 1990s), and therefore the force is viable (and shares boom tanker assets etc).
The former would suggest that they are indeed part of a bigger fleet, and so the 3 number isn't so important. The latter would suggest that they are a UK asset that we assign to the NATO mission as and when required, and so the 3 number means we probably aren't going to have too much slack to do that.
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Originally Posted by melmothtw
Are they allocated to, or are they the UK's contribution to? Because they are different things.
The former would suggest that they are indeed part of a bigger fleet, and so the 3 number isn't so important. The latter would suggest that they are a UK asset that we assign to the NATO mission as and when required, and so the 3 number means we probably aren't going to have too much slack to do that.
The former would suggest that they are indeed part of a bigger fleet, and so the 3 number isn't so important. The latter would suggest that they are a UK asset that we assign to the NATO mission as and when required, and so the 3 number means we probably aren't going to have too much slack to do that.
Originally Posted by Wensleydale
The UK Component of the AEW Force is routinely tasked by NATO, with all UK requests for AEW tasking having to go through the NATO tasking channel: the UK cannot just task an aircraft without permission from NATO. (Six of the 7 Sentries were allocated to NATO with the seventh as an in-use reserve. The NATO Tasking Allotment Group (TAG - used to be the Force Allotment Group, but the US members did not like being a member of FAG) meets quarterly and looks at AEW tasking requests and allots them accordingly amongst both the NATO Component at Geilenkirchen and the UK Component, formerly at Waddington and soon to be at Lossiemouth. At the moment, of course, all of NATO's AEW tasking falls to the Geilenkirchen squadrons with the UK Squadron joining in once it has reached IOC.
....with the UK Squadron joining in once it has reached IOC
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Originally Posted by melmothtw
With one aircraft likely to be available at any time, I don't think future NATO taskings will be that 'routine' anymore.
'Squadron' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
'Squadron' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
The TAG will allocate AEW missions in accordance with aircraft availability as they always have done. The RAF will not be able to task the aircraft without the say-so of NATO. It took quite a while for the RAF to realise this when the Sentry came into service over 30 years ago with senior officers regularly being told that they cannot ring the Squadron to demand an aircraft for their exercise and to go through NATO.
