In what is a remarkable 12 months for aerospace-sector anniversaries – ranging from half-centuries since the first flights of the Boeing 747 and Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde, man’s inaugural steps on the moon and the formation of both Airbus and Embraer, to Flight’s own 110th year – one of the most influential events could be overlooked all too easily. But in the context of advancing global security, few steps can rival the significance of NATO’s establishment in April 1949 via the North Atlantic Treaty.
An initial 12 nations held membership when the Alliance was created as a means of jointly countering the might of the Soviet Union. Highlighting how Europe changed over the ensuing decades, an initially gradual process of enlargement, which added only seven more countries through the organisation’s first 50 years, accelerated markedly from 2004.
The last 15 years have seen a further 10 additions, for a current total of 29, and NATO’s operational reach now runs down from the Baltic states and through the Balkans and Black Sea, providing a broad eastern flank facing an unpredictable Russia.
North Macedonia is to gain full membership during 2020, and NATO is inviting “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area”. Others to have expressed interest in joining are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine.
Today, NATO’s most prominent example of shared endeavour is arguably the Alliance’s own fleet of Boeing E-3A airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft. Operating from Geilenkirchen air base in Germany, this totals 14 Boeing 707-based surveillance platforms, immediately recognisable due to the large radar installed atop the type’s fuselage.