ABSTRACT
The Air Defence of NATO Europe is a matter for grave concern. With the defection of Greece from NATO, the NATO Air Defence Ground Environment (NADGE) radar sites on Greek soil, whilst still operating, are not at present feeding into the NADGE reporting system. At the same time, Britain’s air defences have been reorganised and the reporting system is now more on the lines of the NADGE system and now has direct data communications with the NADGE chain. In the early days of NATO, air defence was a national responsibility; member countries made their own defence plans and there was little coordination between neighbours. Britain’s air defences went through a bad patch in the 1960s, but the Government now realises their vital importance under the ‘flexible response’ policy and today they are receiving the priority they deserve. Normal air defence systems rely on ground-based radars with large antennas reaching up into the air and forming tempting targets for the enemy.
