On Monday, a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft carried out a patrol mission above the Black Sea, according to Flightradar24 flight-tracking data. The Boeing RC-135U Combat Sent departed from the Royal Air Force base in Mildenhall, United Kingdom.
The aircraft followed a route passing over the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. It then entered Black Sea airspace, flying close to the Crimean Peninsula before returning to its base.
The Boeing RC-135U Combat Sent is a specialized electronic reconnaissance plane operated by the United States. Its main role is to collect and analyze radar emissions and other electronic signals from foreign military systems.
Its primary mission is to collect and analyse radar emissions and other electronic signals from foreign military systems, supporting U.S. and NATO intelligence and countermeasure development efforts.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. and NATO surveillance over the Black Sea has intensified. These flights, often involving RC-135, RQ-4 Global Hawk, and P-8A Poseidon aircraft, monitor Russian military activities near Crimea and the broader Black Sea region.
Although these operations occur in international airspace, Moscow regularly denounces them as provocative. Despite this, they are vital to Western intelligence efforts along NATO’s eastern flank.
U.S. reconnaissance flights over the Black Sea remain crucial for gathering intelligence on Russian military movements, despite Russian objections.