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With 'God's-eye view,' secretive surveillance flights keep close watch on Russia and Ukraine

Associated Press

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A crew member analyzes data on a monitor aboard a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. With a powerful radar that rotates six times a minute on top of the planes, AWACS can detect targets over hundreds of kilometers (miles). One AWACS can surveil an area the size of Poland; three can cover all of central Europe, NATO says. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Crew members debrief ground staff after a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, aboard a French Air Force AWACS surveillance plane that flew from the 702 Air Base in Avord, central France, to eastern Romania and back again. Circling around and around for hours on auto-pilot high in the skies of eastern Europe, secretive surveillance flights for NATO closely watch Russian activity along the military alliance's eastern flank. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
The commander of France's AWACS squadron, a lieutenant colonel named Richard, talks to crew members aboard one of the four French surveillance planes as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. Because of French security concerns, The Associated Press was only able to identify him and other military personnel aboard the flight by their ranks and first names. Lt. Col. Richard said the powerful radars aboard AWACS surveillance planes give them a "God's eye view." (AP Photo/John Leicester)
A crew member is obscured by surveillance equipment that largely fills the fuselage of a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flew a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. With a powerful radar dome that rotates six times a minute on top of the planes, AWACS can detect targets over hundreds of kilometers (miles). One AWACS can surveil an area the size of Poland; three can cover all of central Europe, NATO says. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
The commander of France's AWACS squadron, a lieutenant colonel named Richard, talks to crew members aboard one of the four French surveillance planes as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. Because of French security concerns, The Associated Press was only able to identify him and other military personnel aboard the flight by their ranks and first names. Screens in the plane that display intelligence data were marked "secret." (AP Photo/John Leicester)
The pilot of a French military AWACS surveillance plane operates cockpit equipment on a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. France's four E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft are based on a modified Boeing 707 airframe. The pilot, who could only be identified by his rank and first name, Major Kevin, said commercial pilots sometimes express envy about him flying 707s, which first flew in 1957. Boeing 707s stopped flying passengers commercially in 2013. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Crew members break for refreshments in the galley of a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. France's four AWACS are among a variety of surveillance aircraft, including unmanned UAV drones, that gather intelligence for NATO and its member nations (AP Photo/John Leicester)
The 26 military personnel aboard a French AWACS surveillance plane sported an array of badges as they flew a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. The flight from France to Romanian airspace and back again allowed the plane to peer with its electronic eyes across southern Ukraine and the Black Sea to Russian-occupied Crimea and beyond. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Crew members analyze data on monitors aboard a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. With a powerful radar that rotates six times a minute on top of the planes, AWACS can detect targets over hundreds of kilometers (miles). One AWACS can surveil an area the size of Poland; three can cover all of central Europe, NATO says. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
A crew member snaps a souvenir photo from the cockpit of a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. During the 2024 Olympics in July and August, France's AWACS will be used to provide an extra layer of radar surveillance over the Paris Games. (AP Photo/John Leicester)

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A crew member analyzes data on a monitor aboard a French military AWACS surveillance plane as it flies a 10-hour mission Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, to eastern Romania for the NATO military alliance. With a powerful radar that rotates six times a minute on top of the planes, AWACS can detect targets over hundreds of kilometers (miles). One AWACS can surveil an area the size of Poland; three can cover all of central Europe, NATO says. (AP Photo/John Leicester)