Moment captured when Russian Sukhoi jet, US P-8A Poseidon met over Black Sea VIDEO

Footage has emerged from the cockpit of a Russian fighter jet showing a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft operating over the Black Sea this week, equipped with a distinctive radar pod.

The video, first shared on the Russian Fighterbomber channel on Telegram, reportedly depicts a mission on August 27, which is confirmed by publicly available flight tracking data. 

Subsequent analysis conducted by The War Zone publication on this incident highlights the growing role of the P-8 in intelligence-gathering missions in strategic theaters such as the Black Sea, where NATO and Russian forces remain in a tense standoff amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The meeting between a Russian Sukhoi fighter jet and U.S. Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft/ASW plane over the Black Sea. Video reportedly from today.

The P-8A is equipped with the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor multifunctional AESA radar, deployed under… pic.twitter.com/F6xo80Hyq4

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) August 27, 2025

While the exact Russian interceptor remains unidentified, the TWZ speculate that it is likely a fighter from the Flanker series, possibly a Su-35S, a type previously observed conducting similar interception missions. 

The most notable aspect of the video is the extended antenna of the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS) pod mounted beneath the P-8’s fuselage. This elongated radar system, developed by Raytheon, has been in development since 2009 and tested since 2014. 

According to the article, the sighting may be the first recorded instance of the pod being deployed in the Black Sea, and extended deployment of its antenna is exceptionally rare, as it is normally stowed beneath the aircraft.

The AAS pod features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar with moving target indicator (MTI) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities, allowing it to track both maritime and land targets. It can generate detailed SAR imagery of ships and other objects at considerable distances and in all-weather, day-or-night conditions, providing high-quality intelligence for further analysis. Limited information suggests the pod may also possess secondary electronic warfare functions.

The TWZ highlights that this sighting underscores the strategic intelligence-gathering role of the P-8A Poseidon and highlights the technological sophistication of its surveillance systems, demonstrating the increasing tension and monitoring activity in the Black Sea amid ongoing geopolitical conflicts.

"The Black Sea, with its combination of maritime activity and proximity to an intense ground war in Ukraine, is an ideal theater of operations for the AAS-equipped P-8," TWZ reports.

By Nazrin Sadigova