DISCLOSURE / FILE
Belgian Air Force radar trace charts from the March 30–31, 1990 Eupen/Wavre F-16 interception, presented publicly by Col. Wilfried De Brouwer at NATO headquarters in Evere on July 11, 1990.
Belgian Air Force radar trace charts from the March 30–31, 1990 Eupen/Wavre F-16 interception, presented publicly by Col. Wilfried De Brouwer at NATO headquarters in Evere on July 11, 1990.
On the night of March 30–31, 1990, the Glons NATO Control Reporting Centre and Semmerzake air traffic control radar tracked unidentified targets over central Belgium, and two F-16s from Beauvechain were scrambled. Across nine interception attempts, the F-16 onboard radars registered six lock-ons at 5 to 8 nautical miles, with recorded traces showing acceleration from roughly 150 km/h to over 1,100 km/h and altitude changes between 150 m and 3,000 m within seconds. The Belgian Air Force characterized the performance as beyond the possibilities of existing technology. Chief of Operations Col. Wilfried De Brouwer presented the declassified radar charts at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Evere, Brussels, on July 11, 1990.