During the recent Ukrainian attack on Crimea, an American strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4 Global Hawk was spotted in the sky over the Black Sea not far from the peninsula.
According to flight tracking portal Flightradar, this drone with the call sign FORTE12 took off during the day 16 April from a NATO base on the Italian island of Sicily towards the Black Sea. He periodically moved with the transponder turned off.
An American UAV flew in the sky over the Black Sea about a hundred kilometers from the Russian borders near 19 hours. He was spotted near the Crimean coast, and near the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus.
Recall, that on the night of 17 April residents of the Crimean city of Dzhankoy spoke of powerful explosions. The American drone, meanwhile, continued to circle near the peninsula and only a few hours later left the area.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV can remain over remote terrain for quite a long time, while transmitting data in real time.
After the President of Russia in October last year instructed the Russian Aerospace Forces to begin patrolling over the Black Sea with MiG-31 aircraft, The United States has been adjusting the flights of its UAVs near Crimea for some time.
