JRL NEWSWATCH: “With ‘God’s-eye view,’ secretive surveillance flights keep close watch on Russia and Ukraine” – AP
“ABOARD A FRENCH AIR FORCE AWACS … Off in the distance, Ukraine, fighting for its survival. Seen from up here, in the cockpit of a French air force surveillance plane flying over neighboring Romania, the snow-dusted landscapes look deceptively peaceful. … Circling on auto-pilot at 34,000 feet … the plane … fed intelligence in real time to ground-based commanders. Its mission for NATO on the eastern flank of the 31-nation military alliance also, in effect, drew a do-not-cross line in European skies.
The plane’s sustained presence high above eastern Romania — seeing and also being seen by Russian forces — signaled how intensely NATO is watching its borders and Russia, ready if necessary to act should Russian aggression threaten to extend beyond Ukraine. …”