An RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the US Air Force has carried out an unusual mission in the Black Sea. The strategic reconnaissance drone flew 100 kilometers off the Russian coast.
The RQ-4B Global Hawk is stationed at a NATO base on the island of Sicily. Earlier this week, it was active in the Black Sea. The Northrop Grumman drone flew near the Russian cities of Sochi and Novorossiysk.
2125 Zulu FORTE11 (RQ-4B) continues to approach the coastline off Sochi, Russia. Estimates place the unmanned aircraft approximately 54 nautical miles offshore over the Black Sea.???? pic.twitter.com/tE7Z073qI8
– Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 9, 2023
This mission was very unusual for the drone. Most often, RQ-4B Global Hawk flights are limited to the central part of the Black Sea. Recently, the drone has begun to fly more often in the eastern part of the sea, approaching the territory of the Russian Federation.
At about the same time as the Global Hawk, an RC-135W Rivet Join reconnaissance aircraft was flying its mission in the Black Sea. It belongs to the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. The aircraft operated along the coast of the temporarily occupied Crimea.
In the #BlackSea, an increased activity of reconnaissance aviation of #NATO countries is recorded: a #British RC-135W AWACS aircraft is operating along the #Crimea, while an #American RQ-4B Global Hawk drone is interested in the coast of Sochi and Novorossiysk pic.twitter.com/w3ZzdekUIJ
— Middle East Update (@islamicworldupd) May 9, 2023
The appearance of Rivet Join near the Crimean peninsula is a common occurrence. But what the RQ-4B Global Hawk drone was doing in the eastern part of the Black Sea is still difficult to say. But in any case, there are many objects on the territory of the Russian Federation that may be of interest to the United States and NATO.
