Newsweek: For the first time since the fighting began in Ukraine… a US spy plane flies over the Black Sea
A US military aircraft has collected intelligence on Russian sites from within the airspace over the Black Sea, in the first mission of its kind since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Newsweek reported this based on flight records, adding that this move, which was first spotted by the open-source intelligence analysis site MeNMyRC on Wednesday, may reflect a new and more daring approach by the US Department of Defense “Pentagon” under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Newsweek report indicated that the US Air Force had previously been sending reconnaissance aircraft to the Black Sea from bases in Europe to monitor military movements in Crimea, but after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, manned flights were replaced with drones, which appeared to reflect concerns about the safety of American crew members.
GPS signals detected by Flightradar24 showed a US RC-135V Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, with the call sign JAKE17, flying deep into the Black Sea on Wednesday, orbiting international airspace about 100 miles southwest of the Russian naval base in Sevastopol for about four hours.
Newsweek published a map of the flight, which showed a deviation from previous practice, which was limited to the airspace of NATO countries such as Romania and Bulgaria.
According to the US Air Force, the Rivet Joint provides advanced capabilities to collect, analyze and disseminate intelligence in near real time, with a crew of more than 30, including electronic warfare officers and intelligence analysts.
In a post on X, MeNMyRC said, “When the war began, the United States stopped manned operations off Sevastopol,” noting a major change in American behavior.
In March 2023, the US Air Force re-adjusted its drone reconnaissance missions in the Black Sea after two Russian aircraft intercepted a US MQ-9 drone, causing it to crash.
Flights were later resumed, but at a distance farther from Crimea.
Moscow has accused Washington of using intelligence gathered by its aircraft to provide precise targeting data for Ukrainian missile attacks.
