A U.S. reconnaissance drone has gone missing while on patrol over the Black Sea and neither Russian officials nor flight tracking services have come up with explanations.
Knewz.com has learned that the RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), was last seen on May 26, near the Russian resort town of Sochi.
The first to pick up on the alleged anomaly was Russian publication, RIA Novosti. Citing data from flight tracking resource, FlightRadar24, it noted that the aircraft was last seen 155 miles from the bay of Yalta on the Black Sea.
The drone allegedly started its mysterious journey on Tuesday, June 4, at the NATO air base in Sigonella, Italy. It then flew through Bulgaria to its area of patrol on the coast of Crimea. According to the RIA, it was at this point the craft’s identification tag disappeared.
Bulgarian online publication, Bulgarianmilitary.com, covered the drone’s disappearance and noted that the Russian Ministry of Defence had refrained from commenting on the topic.
This development comes amidst ongoing threats by Russia to counter U.S. surveillance in the area. Despite the latter, U.S. aerial patrols of the area have continued unhindered.
Defence Blog, a website that analyzes military activities, confirmed that the same drone – an RQ-4B Global Hawk with the callsigns FORTE12 and 10-2045 – visited the area regularly.
And when it did, the spy plane adhered to international aviation law and kept its transponder (the automatic communication device making it possible to track) activated.
Notably, if said transponder were to be switched off over the Black Sea, FlightRadar24 would have lost track of the UAV. It is also worth noting that transponders stop transmitting due to technical failure or when they are intentionally turned off on military aircraft.
Another defense outlet, The War Zone, notes one of the reasons transponders on military aircraft will be deliberately turned off, is during sensitive flights outside of combat operations.
Said RQ-4B Global Hawk’s apparent disappearance follows a previous fracas involving the U.S. in March 2023, when an MQ 9 reaper drone was harassed by a Russian fighter jet and consequently crashed into the sea.
Footage relayed by the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) showed a Russian Su27 fighter jet dumping fuel as it approached said UAV.
The military division also claimed that during one of the Russian air force’s close passes, it nicked the drone’s propeller forcing the pilots controlling the UAV to send it crashing into the Black Sea.
The Russian Defence bloc claimed its aircraft made no contact with the drone and that its pilots were not responsible for its downing.
The U.S. resumed reconnaissance operations over the Black Sea in the same week.
A report by Reuters, at the time, quoted Pentagon officials “repeatedly” stressing “that the incident would not stop Washington from flying such missions.”
The post U.S. Global Hawk Drone Vanishes Without a Trace Over Black Sea; Russian Officials Keeping Mum appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: Dave Malyon
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