LIELVĀRDE, Latvia - Since mid-April, some 100 German Air Force officers and NCO’s have been deploying more than 800 tons of material to Lielvārde Air Base and two other locations in Latvia, to augment NATO’s air command and control capabilities in the Baltic Region.

 

For the second time since 2016, Germany has demonstrated its ability to swiftly respond by sending its Deployable Control and Reporting Centre (DCRC) as one of its contributions to NATO’s Assurance Measures to the Alliance’s eastern flank.

 

Recently, the Germans have conducted thorough preparations and coordinated the huge project of relocating and setting up material and equipment for the command post, the radar set and radio module, placing more than 50 kilometres of cabling. The three elements are dispersed at locations across Latvia.

 

After the integration phase, the DCRC is scheduled to achieve initial operational capability of its systems by mid-May. Once fully capable of executing its mission around May 22, the DCRC will be operating in Latvia for four weeks before re-deploying to Germany.

 

The DCRC will use its radar data via a satellite connection and operate integrated into BALTNET, the Baltic Air Surveillance Network jointly manned by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. All data provided generates the recognized air picture for the region facilitating the DCRC to provide instructions to military aircraft flying under its command and control.

 

The entire mission falls under NATO’s Combined Air Operations Command at Uedem, Germany, which is responsible for command and control north of the Alps, its number one mission is Air Policing.

Story by Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office