>I have to agree with earlier speculation. It might be a command and control
>issue as to why which AWACs went where. However, it might also be
>technological. The US might be sending newer ones to the ME and S. Asia. I
>speculate about this because, if they developed planes for Japan, then no
>doubt they got a bunch of military electronics from Japan in the process. I
>also reiterate that this deployment to North America somehow shows that NATO
>is an alliance of equals (when it clearly is not).
>
>Charles Jannuzi
AWACS are like big flying air control centers. Their radar extends further then air traffic control on the ground and so they play a role in detecting potentially hostile enemy planes, right?
What command and control issues might be involved if there are no weapons on the plane? They are spotters and apparently they are being used to protect targets like nuclear power plants. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20011011/ts/spyplane_graphic.html
They relay information to command centers. So, I can't see how command and control issues are involved. Your technological explanation makes more sense. They don't have to be involved in making decisions about what to shoot or what to guard against or whatever. They are merely a conduit for sending information to those who make the decisions.
While it would seem that we would prefer higher tech stuff at home given the enormous task of protecting US airspace, I can see that it is, ultimately, irrelevant. A hijacker will hijack a plane in a country where security isn't on high alert. They will choose a nuclear power plant in a flight path near a nuclear power station. Our nearest is 70 miles from an airport. It is worse in the Northeast !!! They will then take over the plane at the last minute if they can and drive it into the plant, all within the course of 15-20 minutes. AWACS will have been no use in spotting such an act early because the plane wouldn't have been spotted as hostile in the first place.
The knowledge that the plane has been hijacked will come from cell phone calls and emergency calls from pilots to air traffic control at that point.
kelley