EXERCISE ARGUS
"Raiders at 30,000 feet heading west …." The word is flashed along the NATO micro-wave radio relay system from a Belgium operational control center to the French Air Defence Command, to the First Canadian Air Division in Northern France, and then over to the US Twelfth Air Force in Southern Germany.
Interceptors streak out of alert hangars minutes after the track of the raiding aircraft is established, climbing into the thin air over Brussels, Strasbourg, Frankfurt and Cologne for airborne interceptions.
The vehicle may fly faster and higher, but air defence in the jet age still follows the same principle as in WW II: track the invader, then intercept him, and if he’s hostile, shoot him down.
To sharpen air defence readiness in Central Europe, the six national air forces that contribute airpower to NATO’s Allied Air Forces Control Europe (AIRCENT) command participate in Exercise ARGUS, a monthly manoeuvre that simulates the real thing.
"Enemy" raiders sweep in from another NATO zone. From the second those "bogeys" are spotted by the "defenders" radar, a race against jet time begins….the race to pas accurate defence information to other defence zones more swiftly than the raiders themselves travel. For a vital margin of time must be allowed: the minutes that it takes for fighters to get airborne and in position to intercept.
But interception is not the prime concern in ARGUS. The object is rather to reduce the time required to plot the track of raiders and to relay the information regarding direction, speed and altitude from Belgium to Holland…or to France…or Germany. So far, the continuing practice in ARGUS has pared vital minutes from the procedures involved, in spite of the fact that from one national border to another there are often differences in equipment, in techniques and in language.
These differences are due partly to the fact that air defence has not been handed over to international control, but has remained a national responsibility. However, the speeds and heights of modern jets have made national "islands of defence" inadequate for the protection of Central Europe. It was for this reason that a Co-ordinator of Air Defence was appointed to the staff of Allied Air Force Central Europe. It is his job to recommend how the NATO and the nationally controlled air defence forces may best be co-ordinated so that they may operate efficiently and economically as one force in war.
The "raider" aircraft in this month’s ARGUS came from the U.K. and from AIRCENT’s British, Dutch, Belgium Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF). They consisted of RAF Meteors and Canberras and RNAF and RAF F-84F’s, and flew a predetermined course through seven track plotting areas. Designated targets were in the Premier CATAC (First French Tactical Air Command) and the Canadian No. 1 Air Division, both of which form part of AIRCENT’s American/French/Canadian Fourth ATAF. The Republic F-84F’s landed at various 4 ATAF bases for refuelling, but the longer-range Canberras returned non-stop to their home stations.
An end result of ARGUS has been closer and friendlier contact between NATO forces. When the "raiders" land, the "defender" bases check their aircraft and refuel them for the return trip. The fact that such servicing is now possible is a tribute to the standardization programme started in the early days of NATO’s existence. Important also in the NATO scheme is the fact that pilots and ground crews from far-distant units can get together meanwhile to form or renew NATO friendships.
Split-minute efficiency in air defence is part of the NATO deterrent. But ARGUS planners hope that the fighting techniques they seek to perfect will never be tested in true aerial warfare.