NATO reconnaissance plane spends fifth hour over Black Sea

A NATO reconnaissance aircraft has spent a fifth consecutive hour flying over international waters in the southern Black Sea, according to a TASS report citing a source in European Union air traffic control services.

The source identified the aircraft as a Bombardier ARTEMIS II and said it was operating over the Black Sea despite it being the weekend. The aircraft is permanently based at an airfield in Constanta, Romania, and normally operates on weekdays, with weekend missions described as relatively rare.

“The aircraft took off at around 08:45 Moscow time and is currently continuing its flight from west to east and back, without entering the airspace of any coastal country,” the source said.

The source said monitoring over several months showed that the aircraft generally operates on three routes. These include missions over the Black Sea, flights over the Baltic states with a turn near Estonia’s Gulf of Finland coastline, and patrols around Russia’s Kaliningrad Region.

During operations around Kaliningrad, the aircraft flies in the airspace of Lithuania and Poland as well as over international waters in the Baltic Sea, according to the source.

The Bombardier ARTEMIS II has also previously conducted extended missions over the Black Sea. “Once this summer, the Bombardier ARTEMIS II broke its own record by spending nine hours over the Black Sea,” the source said.

By Tamilla Hasanova