The agreement for Air Interception Assistance, signed by Guillermo Lasso’s government with the United States, includes financing, intelligence and radar data, equipment and training.
Fighter aircraft, F/A-18 Super Hornets, of the United States, on November 6, 2023, in the Mediterranean.
The bilateral agreement between Ecuador and the United States for “Air Interception Assistance” is part of a recent trilogy of cooperation agreements between the public forces of both countries.
The three instruments were signed during the government of Guillermo Lasso, and, after the favorable ruling of the Constitutional Court (CC), they can come into force without requiring ratification by the Legislature. All that is needed is the final ‘ok’ from President Daniel Noboa.
These are the agreements for Assistance in Air Interception, for Operations against Illicit Transnational Maritime Activities and the Status of Forces (SOFA, for its acronym in English).
For Chancellor Gabriela Sommerfeld, this will allow cooperation to be executed expeditiously. And she added that it coincides with the visit of a US delegation to analyze methods and assistance to confront the internal armed conflict.
While the vice chancellor, Carlos Larrea, emphasized that they are temporary cooperation agreements, within the framework of the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism, framed in international law and the laws of the two countries.
What does the agreement for Air Interception Assistance imply?
This document is the first, in military matters, that the government of Guillermo Lasso signed with the United States, on May 30, 2023. On June 16 it was sent to the Constitutional Court for review, and on July 12 it gave it free rein.
Additionally, it is the shortest agreement; It has only six articles and establishes the framework under which the Ecuadorian military will be able to intercept aircraft suspected of illicit drug trafficking.
And that presumption will be established by 17 factors. Among them, if the aircraft in question:
- He did not submit the mandatory flight plan.
- You are inexplicably flying off the designated route in your approved flight plan.
- It’s flying at an inexplicably low altitude.
- It’s flying at night with the lights off.
- You have false numbers in your queue or missing numbers.
- The windows are darkened.
- It is parked without permission on an unguarded landing strip.
- He has inexplicably stopped responding to all attempts at communication.
- He has ignored the orders of the Ecuadorian Air Force.
Furthermore, the document establishes that the Government of Ecuador will refrain from using weapons against civil aircraft, except in cases of self-defense.
Specifically, the agreement states that: the State will not damage, destroy, or disable any civil aircraft in service, nor will it threaten to do so.
In addition, the warning shots will be fired with tracer munitions (which leave a trail of light during their journey), without hitting said aircraft, but to ensure that the pilot is aware that he has been intercepted.
The Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) must also avoid impacting, during the interception, other nearby aircraft, people or property on the ground.
And all civil and military personnel, on the ground or in the air, linked to aerial activities, who participate in interception processes, must do so in accordance with international protocols and standards.
The participation of the United States in air assistance, unlike the two subsequent agreements, does not involve the presence of military operational agents. But it does include financing; intelligence data; information; radar data; logistical support; command, control and communications support; equipment; maintenance and training.
And the most significant radar data are those that show the position of aircraft in the airspace, which includes tracking information and clues of interest on aircraft suspected of drug trafficking.
