icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
10 Mar, 2018 12:54

Hiding in the skies: US spy drone reportedly spotted near Crimea

Hiding in the skies: US spy drone reportedly spotted near Crimea

An unmanned US surveillance drone was spotted carrying out reconnaissance near Crimea, according to reports. It is said that it even flew over the demarcation line in Ukraine’s Donbass region.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk cruised over war-torn east Ukraine before coming within 30 kilometers of Sevastopol’s coast. CivMilAir, which monitors military aviation flights worldwide, announced as much in a tweet on Friday.

The unmanned craft is thought to have taken off from a US Navy installation at NATO Base Sigonella in Sicily, Italy. 

READ MORE: (Un)safe & (un)professional: How NATO, Russian planes chase each other (VIDEOS)

US and NATO air patrols have become increasingly common in international airspace near Russian territory, in many cases leading Russian fighters to intercept the mischievous aircraft. In January, a Russian Su-27 intercepted a US Navy EP-3 Aries surveillance aircraft over the Black Sea, leading to accusations from the Pentagon that the Russian fighter flew too closer to the US plane.

A more high-stakes incident occurred in June over the Baltics, when a NATO F-16 approached a plane carrying Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. An escorting Su-27 politely tipped its wing to the NATO jet, displaying its arsenal of air-to-air missiles. 

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

Podcasts
0:00
26:13
0:00
24:57