About This File
Pinger Charlie
EC2003 GIUK
During the Cold War, the Baltic Sea was the "playground" of maritime reconnaissance and electronic surveillance assets of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Both sides employed their assets to continuously monitor each other's activities. The West German Naval Air Arm's Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) of Marinefliegergeschwader 3 (MFG3) "Graf Zeppelin", based at Nordholz, flew continuous patrols over the Baltic Sea and Danish approaches to monitor the buildup of Soviet naval forces which would have to transit through these waters to reach the North Atlantic. The area was vital to NATO's overall defence strategy, which depended on countering any offensive brought by Warsaw Pact forces in the event of war. ASW operations in the region were all the more difficult by constantly changing temperatures, the salinity of the shallow water, and numerous shipwrecks. ["Pinger Charlie" is the nickname given to a certain sonobuoy pattern used by MFG3 Atlantics]. (Released January 2006).