High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft are airborne radar systems designed to detect and track aircraft, missiles and ships and provide control for friendly weapons systems and aircraft for interception. This differs from AEW aircraft and helicopters, which can detect and track, but lack command and control facilities, instead relaying the data to such facilities. Used at high altitudes, the systems allow the operators to detect, track and identify aircraft hundreds of miles away, as well as determine altitude The system is used offensively to direct fighters and bombers to target locations and defensively for intercepting incoming bogeys. Modern AEW&C systems can detect aircraft from up to 250 miles (400 km) away, out of range of most surface-to-air missiles. One AEW&C aircraft flying at 30,000 feet (9,100 m) can cover an area of 120,460 square miles (312,000 km2). Three such aircraft in overlapping orbits can cover the whole of Central Europe. In air-to-air combat, AEW&C systems can communicate with friendly aircraft, extending the sensor range and reducing the detectability of combat aircraft, since they no longer need their own active radar to detect threats.