US Reconnaissance Aircraft Patrols Over the Black Sea
On Monday, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft carried out a patrol mission over the Black Sea, according to flight data from Flightradar24. The Boeing RC-135U Combat Sent departed from the Royal Air Force base in Mildenhall, United Kingdom.
The aircraft followed a route over the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania before entering Black Sea airspace. It flew near the Crimean Peninsula and then returned to its base.
Boeing RC-135U Combat Sent Details
The RC-135U Combat Sent is a highly specialized electronic reconnaissance plane used by the U.S. military. Its main task is to collect and analyze radar emissions and various electronic signals from foreign military systems. This intelligence supports U.S. and NATO efforts in developing countermeasures.
Heightened Surveillance Since 2022
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, surveillance by U.S. and NATO over the Black Sea has increased. Missions using aircraft such as the RC-135, RQ-4 Global Hawk, and P-8A Poseidon focus on monitoring Russian military activity around Crimea and the Black Sea region.
Moscow often condemns these operations as provocative, although they occur in international airspace.
Despite criticism from Russia, these patrols remain vital to Western intelligence efforts along NATO’s eastern border.
Summary
The U.S. regularly deploys specialized reconnaissance flights over the Black Sea to gather crucial intelligence on Russian military actions, strengthening NATO’s surveillance capabilities in the region.
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