Vigilance As The World Mourns

Security was tight in Rome Friday as Pope John Paul II was buried at the Vatican. While millions of mourners packed the Vatican and surrounding areas... as billions watched on television, a NATO AWACS plane was on patrol high above the ceremonies.

"This is being done at the request of the Italian government to help provide security at what is possibly an unprecedented gathering of world leaders," NATO spokesman James Appathurai told Reuters. "The purpose of it is to give the Italian government visibility of what is going on in their air space."

NATO’s E-3A Component has increasingly been called upon to provide its characteristic airborne net of security at a wide variety of summits and special events, including the 2004 Olympics and last month’s Madrid International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security.

One E-3A AWACS operating at 30,000 feet can provide radar coverage out to a distance greater than 200 miles, generating a clear picture of aircraft movements from high to low altitude.

The E-3A Component at Geilenkirchen is NATO’s only multinational flying unit, with international aircrews from 12 nations. It is a critical element of NATO’s military capability, providing immediately available early warning, command and control support to the entire range of NATO operations.

Other aerial surveillance missions were flown out of a NATO airbase in Northern Italy during Friday's ceremony, as kings, queens and heads of state put aside their political differences for a day to pay their respects to the pontiff.

FMI: www.nato.int