September 6, 2021
It's not a Pancake, that Weird Disk Attached to the Plane is a Radar System
NATO is always on watch in case of a crisis.
by Sebastien Roblin
Key point: For the next sixteen years, however, the large manned radar planes will continue to play an important role in NATO’s air defenses—one in which its member states cooperate together upon to an unusual degree.
Geilenkirchen Airbase in western Germany hosts one of the world’s most unusual air forces: fourteen huge aircraft based on the classic four-engine Boeing 707 airliner, each hefting a disc-shaped radar dome resembling a rotating pizza platter.
Amusingly, these jets are officially registered to Luxembourg—a tiny country without any air force. Indeed, the Boeings belong to no one country’s air force, though they are usually commanded in turns by a German and U.S. general.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/its-not-pancake-weird-disk-attached-plane-radar-system-193162
