NATO recon aircraft spotted operating near Russia's Kaliningrad

A NATO reconnaissance and target acquisition aircraft, the Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis II, has been circling near Russia’s Kaliningrad region.

“The aircraft, which has been repeatedly observed near the Kaliningrad region, has once again begun circling the area after arriving from an airfield in Constanța, Romania,” a source in European air traffic control circles said, TASS reports.

The source noted that the aircraft’s circular flight pattern, conducted at an altitude of around 10 kilometres, uses the airspace of Lithuania and Poland as well as the skies over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The flight path, the source added, is designed to avoid intersecting with civilian aviation routes.

“The flight path is designed in such a way that it does not intersect with civil aviation routes,” the source added.

The source further stated that another frequent area of operations for the Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis II is the Black Sea, where it also flies over international waters without entering the airspace of any country. On several occasions, it has reportedly operated over the Black Sea alongside a British Royal Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft, the Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint.

By Vafa Guliyeva