SHOULD NATO ESTABLISH A FULL NO-FLY ZONE?
Given all this, should NATO now establish a full no-fly zone? And what other options can we consider to pressure Moscow to back down?
During my tenure as supreme allied commander of NATO, I spent quite a bit of time at the massive Ramstein Air Base in southwest Germany, home to more than 15,000 US troops. It is the HQ for all US air operations in Europe and Africa, and the centre for all NATO air operations globally.
NATO has its own complete airwing of more than a dozen E-3 Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (AWACS), sufficient to maintain 24/7 visibility over Ukrainian airspace and NATO’s eastern border. The alliance’s newly announced Operation Eastern Sentry – an initiative to reinforce its eastern flank – will include US Air Force F-35 Lightning combat jets, the most cutting-edge fifth-generation fighters in the world.
Additionally, advanced combat aircraft from Poland, the UK, France and the Baltic nations – including Swedish JAS 39 Gripens, French Dassault Rafales and Eurofighter Typhoons – will participate.
I remember leading joint air-warfare exercises more than a decade ago and marvelling at the seamless command and control flowing from Ramstein up to the AWACS and then to the fighters on frontline. NATO is very, very good at these kinds of high-tech operations.
