NATO surveillance flights over the waters near Russia-occupied Crimea have persisted despite recent Moscow warnings about U.S. spy plane activity in the Black Sea.
Recently, a British Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft conducted a two-hour reconnaissance mission off the coast of Romania, around 150 miles west of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, as indicated by GPS data from Flightradar24.
Crimea, annexed by Russia a decade ago, has been targeted by Ukrainian missile strikes, with Moscow accusing the U.S. of providing coordinates for these attacks.
Flight-tracking data from the Black Sea showcased the British surveillance plane taking over from an American P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft in the same region.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carried out missions near Romania’s borders rather than directly over the Black Sea, operating from Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy.
Open-source flight records placed the same Rivet Joint near Constanta, Romania, on July 15 for a three-hour reconnaissance mission in the Black Sea.
Earlier in the month, reports emerged on Telegram indicating Russian fighter jets intercepted a British spy plane near Romania’s Black Sea coast on July 1, coinciding with the presence of a different Rivet Joint aircraft in the vicinity.
NATO’s Allied Air Command and Russia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to queries regarding these air intercept incidents.
The sophisticated sensors on the Rivet Joint aircraft are designed to gather electronic emissions, providing real-time intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination capabilities, according to the RAF and the U.S. Air Force.
The RC-135 reconnaissance planes, in service since the 1960s, are equipped to be operational well into the 2040s, each accommodating a large mission crew.
Three British Rivet Joints, stationed at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, have been supporting NATO missions along the alliance’s southeastern flank, including intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance operations near the Black Sea since the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with one encountering Russian fighter jets in 2022.
June saw at least five similar ISR missions in the Black Sea, including a U.S. RC-135V Rivet Joint flight from RAF Mildenhall over Romanian airspace, according to flight data.
These reconnaissance missions have been associated with Ukrainian military strikes on Russian assets nearby in the region.
The increased U.S. and NATO involvement in the conflict has raised tensions with Russia, with the Russian defense ministry warning of potential airspace incidents involving their aircraft.
The U.S. Department of Defense refrains from commenting on specific operations, affirming that U.S. forces will operate within the boundaries of international law.