As appears from the traces of the archives of Flightradar24, the last time the American Global Hawk flew over the Black Sea, opposite the Crimean coast, was on March 21. Since then, US strategic drones no longer penetrate the airspace over the Black Sea.
It should be noted that since the start of the special military operation until March 21, American drones carried out an average of 8-10 reconnaissance flights per month over the sea facing Crimea. From March 21 to April 20, Global Hawk flew only three sorties from an air base in Sicily. All of their flights took place within the borders of Romanian airspace at a distance of more than 400 km from Crimea, according to data from Flightradar24.
Recall that on the morning of March 14, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone flight to the Russian border was recorded over the Black Sea in the Crimea region. Russian warplanes were lifted into the air to identify the intruder. Following sudden maneuvers, the American drone lost control and fell into the water. As reported to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons and did not come into contact with the MQ-9 Reaper.
After the incident, the US military changed the Global Hawk’s flight paths. They started looking further than usual from the southernmost point of the Russian peninsula – at least 150 kilometers instead of the usual 80-100 kilometers. The Pentagon has assured that it will continue reconnaissance drone flights over the Black Sea.
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