Riccardo Niccoli explores the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force, which is going through a baptism of fire as it continues to monitor the war in Ukraine.
NATO possesses a variety of organisations and units that were created specifically to operate for the advantage of the Alliance and its members. These are often commands or study and training centres, or centres of excellence, formed by mixed personnel drawn from the various member states.
In more recent times, and for the first time in the history of NATO, a unit has been activated under the direct control of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), with specific operational capabilities that are considered necessary to satisfy the aims of the Alliance. This unit is NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Force (NAGSF), which is headquartered at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella in Sicily, Italy, and which provides NATO with a “state-of-the-art” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.
