NATO said it plans to send three spy planes to Romania next week to carry out reconnaissance missions and monitor Russia's military activity in the military alliance's territory.

The reconnaissance planes, or AWACS, belong to a fleet of 14 aircraft normally based in Germany.

Three planes will be sent Tuesday to an air base near Bucharest on a mission expected to last several weeks, the 30-nation alliance said in a statement. The planes can detect aircraft hundreds of kilometers away, making them a key NATO deterrent and defense asset, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement.

AWACS systems carried out regular patrols over Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea region to track Russian combat aircraft near NATO borders throughout the Russia-Ukraine war.