Planes flock over Poland: NATO's vigilant watch on eastern front
On April 2, numerous airplanes were observed over Poland and neighboring countries, tasked with monitoring the situation beyond NATO's eastern borders. In addition to reconnaissance aircraft, a NATO flying tanker was also circling the central part of the country. Who sent their planes over Poland?
The Polish AWACS, specifically two Saab 340 AEW aircraft purchased from Sweden, reached operational readiness in November 2024. Since then, they have regularly appeared over Poland, conducting extended flights. One of these aircraft, the Saab 340 with the symbol Thunder1, was flying in the Lublin and Chełm areas.
The airplane's unusual flight path was particularly noteworthy. The Saab 340 AEW is equipped with an Erieye radar, which has a blind spot in both the front and rear due to its construction. As a result, aircraft of this type typically conduct patrols along borders on a north-south route.
This time, the Polish AWACS's route was latitudinal, meaning areas to the north and south of the aircraft were under continuous surveillance.
American plane with ARTEMIS system
Part of the route of the American Bombardier Challenger 650 ARTEMIS plane also crossed over Poland. This is a US Army reconnaissance aircraft equipped with the ARTEMIS system (Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-Mission Intelligence System). The American plane was circling around the Kaliningrad Oblast.
ARTEMIS is a new system introduced 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, the characteristic 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 aircraft (MRTT - Multi Role Tanker Transport), which can serve as a transport aircraft or, as was most likely the case here, a flying tanker.
This aircraft provides support, among other things, 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 the eastern border of Romania. A Latvian Mi-17 helicopter also conducted a patrol along the border with Russia.
