RAMSTEIN, Germany -
This week, Electronic Warfare Exercise Ramstein Guard 3-17 takes place at Leeuwarden Air Base, the Netherlands, integrated into the Dutch-led live-fly
exercise Frisian Flag 2017.
The NATO Electronic Warfare Force Integration Programme (NEWFIP) is the
Allied system-training designed to provide integrated and coordinated training
to NATO forces on operating in an adverse electromagnetic environment.
NATO’s Allied Air Command is in charge of planning,
organising and executing the training of Allied air forces in accordance with
established standards and uses the Ramstein Guard Exercise series to conduct NEWFIP
training. Introduced in 2005, typically twelve
serials are scheduled annually.
"These exercises are executed by one of Allied Air Command’s
two Combined
Air Operations Centres (CAOCs),” says Lieutenant Colonel Giovanni Pagano, Italian
Air Force, the project officer at Headquarters Allied Air Command. "Each
Ramstein Guard involves one or several NATO member Nations and trains all
functions of the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS) in
an electronic warfare environment.”
Allied Air Command uses a civilian contractor and technical
support from the Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff or JEWCS to stage
individual events. Allies are
encouraged to integrate as many assets as they wish into the training events
for maximum benefit.
"The Ramstein Guard manoeuvres are executed in various
locations within the NATO borders each year,” says Pagano. "Individual serials
are planned and deconflicted with all participating nations the year prior to
execution. Ramstein Guard exercises are a standing training program not
connected to any real-world events.”
NATO continues to pursue cooperative security and investing
in capacity building and training efforts enhances integrated Allied and
individual member country’s resilience.
Story by Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office