The AGS programme was to provide NATO with a complete and integrated ground surveillance capability that would offer the Alliance and its member countries unrestricted and unfiltered access to ground surveillance data in near real-time, and in an interoperable manner. Originating from NATO’s Defence Planning Committee in 1992, the AGS programme was defined as a capability acquisition effort in 1995, when NATO Defence Ministers agreed that “ the Alliance should pursue work on a minimum essential NATO-owned and -operated core capability supplemented by interoperable national assets.” This will be supplemented by additional Allied interoperable airborne surveillance systems, under the Joint ISR concept, tailored to the needs of a specific operation or mission conducted by the Alliance. The composition of the AGS core system and national contributions in kind will provide NATO with considerable flexibility in employing its ground surveillance capabilities. The AGS core support segment includes dedicated mission support facilities at the AGS Main Operating Base in Sigonella. It interconnects with multiple deployed and non-deployed operational users, as well as with reach-back facilities away from the surveillance area. The ground segment provides an interface between the AGS core system and a wide range of command, control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C2ISR) systems. The ground segment consists of a number of ground stations in fixed, mobile and transportable configurations, able to provide data-link connectivity, data-processing, exploitation capabilities and interfaces for interoperability. The aircraft are equipped with a multi-platform radar technology insertion programme (MP-RTIP) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ground surveillance radar sensors, as well as an extensive suite of line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight, long-range, wideband data links. The air segment consists of the five NATO RQ-4D aircraft. The AGS core is an integrated system consisting of the air segment, a ground segment and a support segment. The engagement of NATO common funds for infrastructure, communications, operation and support follows normal funding authorisation procedures applicable within the Alliance. On completion of the acquisition process and handover of the AGS to NATO, responsibility for programme management and through-life support passed to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). Shortly after AGS declared Initial Operational Capability on 15 February 2021, responsibility for the sustainment of the AGS capability transferred to all Allies. The AGS system was acquired by 15 NATO Allies: Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States. Just as NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control (NAEW&C) aircraft – also known as AWACS or “NATO’s eyes in the sky” – monitor Alliance airspace, AGS is able to observe what is happening on the Earth’s surface, providing situational awareness before, during and, if needed, after NATO operations. The AGS Main Operating Base serves as a NATO Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) deployment base and as a data exploitation and training centre. The base hosts around 400 AGS personnel, in addition to a small number of AGS staff elements based at Allied Command Operations in Mons, Belgium and at Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany. The NATO AGS Force is based at the AGS Main Operating Base in Sigonella, Italy. Using advanced radar sensors, these systems continuously detect and track moving objects throughout observed areas and provide radar imagery of areas of interest and stationary objects. The NATO-owned and -operated AGS core system enables the Alliance to perform persistent surveillance over wide areas from the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) aircraft, operating at considerable stand-off distances and in any weather or light condition.
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