Today we visited the NATO Missile Firing Installation located in Souda Bay. We started off with a briefing of their history and what they do. Established in 1964, it was build after the “Multilateral Agreement” was signed by several nations in NATO. Once used by 8 NATO States, it was reduced to 3 permanent users, The Netherlands, Greece, and Germany for launching practice tactile missiles. The location is seen as a prime location to practice missiles, with it being close to water and Crete being in the center of the crossroads between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Any country can use the Installation to fire with the approval of the three user nations, and if it is a country outside NATO, another NATO council.
What struck me the most about the Installation was the how technologically advanced it was. In my mind, I had pictured something of the sort of thing you would have seen in the 1983 film “Wargames.” Instead it was clean and organized. The actually launch site was huge, as you’ll see below. All the firings are conducted over a sea area of 166km in length and 87 km in width, with potential to expand if needed. It was also surprising to realize that they only do practice missile. During a time of crisis they would not be used to launch attack missiles, but they continue to work on bettering themselves as Installation.
No comments:
Post a Comment