A NATO AWACS surveillance plane is parked at the Romanian Air Force 90th Airlift Base, in Otopeni, Ilfov, Romania, January 17, 2023. With their rotating radar, the modified Boeing 737 jets can detect aircraft at a distance of more than 400 kilometres (250 miles). To replace the old AWACS jets, NATO aims to purchase six Boeing E-7 A Wedgetail planes, with the contract to be signed in 2024 and the first jet ready for operational duty by 2031. Based at Geilenkirchen airbase in Germany, the AWACS fleet has been widely used for NATO surveillance missions along the alliance's eastern flank in the wake of Russia's attack on Ukraine. In a conflict, the AWACS planes can not only provide a radar picture for allied fighter jets, ships and control centres, but also direct NATO combat jets to their targets.

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Persons: George Calin, Jens Stoltenberg, Sabine Siebold, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Alex Richardson Organizations: NATO, Romanian Air Force 90th Airlift Base, REUTERS, Rights, Boeing, AWACS, Airborne, Thomson Locations: Otopeni, Ilfov, Romania, Rights BRUSSELS, Poland, United States, Britain, Turkey, Germany, Ukraine, Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq