Sentinels in the sky

Not far from the launch zone, the Military Command Centre (CCM) includes an airborne unit which keeps the skies under constant surveillance. There are currently only six Military Command Centres in France and Kourou is the only one overseas. It was installed at the CSG in 1989 through an agreement between CNES and the Air Force to guarantee the security of the Guiana Space Centre.

The missions of the Military Command Centre

The Military Command Centre undertakes some highly specific missions, including :

• the protection of the Guiana Space Centre which means managing the prohibited zone as well as tactical operations at Ariane launch times using ground-to-air Defence systems and airborne interception resources;
• 24-hour surveillance of French Guiana air space for air traffic control purposes for government authorities;
• managing military traffic.

This degree of surveillance was made possible when a night observation capability was incorporated in 2003. A considerable staff is necessary, with 40 people working on the site. The Military Command Centre has a permanent staff of 25 engaged in aerial surveillance. Five controllers and five operators monitor the screens in the operations room day and night. Fifteen others perform maintenance and logistics tasks for the upkeep of the installations and infrastructure, catering, vehicle maintenance etc. The duty controller remains in constant contact with the various helicopters, microlights and aeroplanes. He provides vocal and tactical liaison for the Military Command Centre and uses very specific procedures in order to maintain contact. He also participates in combat training exercises. The operator's role is to identify and classify any aircraft entering the surveillance zone. At any given moment he knows exactly which aircraft are meant to be flying and full details of their flight plans.

These men and women need to be able to keep a cool head. There can be no question of panicking every time an unidentified or unauthorised aircraft appears on the radar. The role of these military specialists is first to identify it and then to contact the pilot and find out how he happens to be there. If the situation requires it, the pilot can be instructed to change course or even to land.

Detection and interception

The military arrangements for protecting the CSG must be adaptable for all types of threat. Whether the threat is from terrorists, the media or protesters, the military must be able to intercept and re-route the aircraft, or even neutralise it if necessary. This is why permanent 24-hour control of the air space is indispensable.

To accomplish its missions the airbase has a lot of equipment for visual display, transmission and detection such as the impressive Centaure radar system, with a range of 200 km. Supplementary resources are brought into action for any launches considered to be particularly sensitive: when the launch is for a military satellite, or when the customer country is under any kind of threat etc. For special circumstances, four radars with a range of 18 km, an AWACS aircraft and 4 Mirage 2000 fighter planes complete the arrangements.

During launch campaigns the protection mission really flexes its muscles when the ground-to-air capability of the Foreign Legion's 3rd Infantry Regiment comes under the orders of the Air Force. From that moment on, the aerial protection of the CSG is under the authority of the French Air Defence Commander who reports directly to the Prime Minister. It is essential to keep the command chain as short as possible, as any threat from the air requires the utmost swiftness in decision-making and execution.

Even outside Ariane launch campaigns, interception resources remain active. Helicopters can often be seen flying over the zone. These helicopters are in fact manned by teams specially sworn in as police officers for the prohibited zone. They are therefore fully authorised to carry out arrests and to take offenders to court.

Before 2010 other resources are scheduled to be brought in progressively to reinforce the military arrangements, such as a radar capable of ‘seeing’ at very low altitude (just above tree-level) or a radar with a range of 400km at high and medium altitudes.