The system will provide a shared radar picture of air traffic and early notification of suspicious air activities, NATO’s web site reads. If an aircraft starts behaving erratically, the air traffic coordination system offers increased visibility and transparency to rapidly ensure coordination in the European airspace.
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The new system has two coordination centers – in Warsaw and Moscow – and local coordination sites in Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Murmansk, Warsaw, Bodø and Ankara.
The system is expected to be fully operational in 2011.
The development of a joint air traffic coordination system is a tangible result of the NATO Russia Council’s Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI). CAI is one of the priority areas set by the NATO-Russia Council’s Work Program for 2010. Beyond its practical objectives such as improving air safety and security, the project also significantly contributes to building mutual trust between NATO and Russia.
Relations between NATO and Russia were frozen after the armed conflict with Georgia in august 2008, but relations have improved in recent months. In December 2009, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov participated in the first formal Russia-NATO Council meeting since the conflict, as BarentsObserver reported.
