North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
March 18, 2015
Exercise Ramstein Dust I 2015 is underway in Italy
RAMSTEIN, Germany: NATO is continuing to develop deployable air surveillance and tactical air mission control capabilities with the “DARS”. This is the Deployable Air Control Centre, Recognised Air Picture Production Centre and Sensor Fusion Post. This capability currently includes 100 NATO Airmen from 16 Allied nations ready to deploy with their equipment on short notice.
From 4 to 30 March 2015, the DARS is deployed for Exercise RAMSTEIN DUST I 2015 to exercise and validate these operational tasks. In the early hours of 9 March 2015, some 100 DARS Airmen embarked on a 750-km move from the home base at Poggio Renatico in the north east of Italy to Gioia del Colle Air Base on the country’s eastern coast.
After setting-up and conducting integration testing, the DARS conducted both live and simulated control of various aircraft missions. The majority of training was supported by the Eurofighter Typhoon jets of 36th Stormo Fighter Squadron collocated at Gioia del Colle Air Base.
“RAMSTEIN DUST is a semi-annual exercise during which the DARS deploys to a remote location,” stated DARS Director, Colonel Christof Heite, German Air Force. “This allows our men and women to train in different environments with realistic mission scenarios. We gather valuable hands-on experience for future DARS deployments and have so far proven we are ready for such missions.”
On Monday, 16 March 2015, during the first day of live mission controls, the DARS staff demonstrated their capabilities to General Frank Gorenc, Commander of Allied Air Command at Ramstein, Germany.
“The DARS is an important capability for future NATO Air Operations,” said General Gorenc. “This unit provides forward and persistent air surveillance. It provides the critical communications link between our various weapons systems and higher headquarters. Most importantly, it provides our NATO Forces and our Joint Force Air Component with situational awareness and the ability to command and control 24/7 NATO air operations from almost any location on very short notice.
”The Heads of State and Government, during the NATO Summit at Wales in September 2014, agreed to revitalize the NATO Response Force with an increased focus on readiness and responsiveness. Capabilities such as the DARS will complement this initiative and may become increasingly important during any deployment of the NATO Response Force.
The DARS will continue to conduct live and simulated control of aircraft missions until the conclusion of RAMSTEIN DUST I 2015 during the last week of March. The lessons learned during this deployment are a major milestone along the unit’s road to reaching Full Operational Capability.
Story by HQ AIRCOM Public Affairs Office
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