NATO Sends E-3 Sentry to Patrol Over Poland

A NATO surveillance aircraft is conducting a patrol over northwestern Poland.

According to data from AirNav Radar analyzed by Militarnyi, the Boeing E-3A (TF33) Sentry, registration number LX-N90453, took off from NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen in Germany at 8:30 a.m.

The aircraft made several monitoring circuits in the area between the cities of Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz.

According to the service’s data, a U.S. Gulfstream EA-37B Compass Call II electronic warfare aircraft is also heading toward the same area after taking off from Greece.

Another Boeing E-3A, registration number LX-N90442, took off from the same German air base at 9:10 a.m., heading toward the Balkans.

The aircraft will likely conduct a reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea, judging by its flight path.

The aircraft LX-N90453 made its first flight in 1983, and NATO officially took delivery of it in 1984.

The United States is currently considering replacing its fleet of E-3 Sentry aircraft with the new E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The decision was accelerated following the destruction of a U.S. E-3 aircraft in an Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia in March this year.

On June 18, 2025, Saab and France’s defence procurement agency, the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), signed a letter of intent to purchase GlobalEye long-range radar surveillance aircraft to replace the E-3 Sentry.

On August 19, NATO reconnaissance aircraft conducted flights toward the borders of Russia and Belarus.