A U.S. Air Force EA-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft took part in a large NATO air package over north-eastern Poland and the Baltic region on 18 August, operating close to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. The activity included U.S. and Norwegian fighters, a NATO E-3A AWACS, tankers and Polish ground forces, with the EA-37B among the most closely watched aircraft in the formation.
Open-source flight tracking placed the EA-37B on a route from Souda Bay in Greece to Powidz in Poland before it orbited west of Kaliningrad for about two hours. The wider package also featured reconnaissance and command-and-control assets, including an ARTEMIS ISR aircraft, in what Polish and NATO-side descriptions framed as planned training and deterrence-oriented activity rather than a response to a specific incident.
The deployment is notable because it appears to be one of the first high-profile appearances of the EA-37B in the Baltic theatre. The aircraft is the latest Compass Call variant and is designed for electronic attack, supporting disruption of communications, radar and navigation systems in contested airspace. Its use alongside fighters, AWACS and tankers shows how specialised electronic warfare capability is being folded into multinational air packages on NATO’s eastern flank.