NATO reconnaissance aircraft spotted over neutral waters of Black Sea

NATO reconnaissance aircraft Bombardier ARTEMIS II was spotted over the neutral waters of the Black Sea on the morning of September 24, a source in the European Union’s air traffic control services told TASS.

“The NATO-owned Bombardier ARTEMIS II reconnaissance aircraft took off from Romania about half an hour ago, where it is based at an airfield in Constanta, and is currently operating over neutral waters in the southern part of the Black Sea,” the source said.

According to the source, after entering the area through the UDROS waypoint under the responsibility of Bulgarian air traffic controllers, the aircraft began its mission.

“Most likely, it will spend several hours flying its standard route from west to east across the waters and back, without entering the airspace of any of the coastal countries,” the source continued.

The reconnaissance aircraft is regularly tracked over the neutral waters of the Black Sea. It also periodically operates over the Baltic countries, including near Estonia’s coast in the Gulf of Finland.

In addition, air traffic controllers track its flights around the Kaliningrad Region, for which the aircraft uses the airspace of Lithuania and Poland, as well as areas over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.

By Jeyhun Aghazada