US Drone Conducted Reconnaissance Near Russia's Crimea Airspace

Foreign aircraft regularly conduct reconnaissance near Russia's borders. They are often seen in the Crimea and Krasnodar Territory, over the Baltic Sea and near Russian bases in Syria.

A US drone has conducted reconnaissance off the Crimean Peninsula, according to the monitoring resource PlaneRadar.

The US Air Force RQ-4B-40 Global Hawk with a tail number 11-2048 and call sign FORTE10 took off from a NATO air base on the island of Sicily, monitored the demarcation line in Donbass, and then embarked on a reconnaissance flight along the Russian Black Sea coast.

06:20 мск.
Стратегический разведывательный #БПЛА RQ-4B-40 #Global #Hawk, ВВС США🇺🇸, бортовой номер 11-2048, позывной #FORTE10, взлетел с авиабазы #Sigonella🇮🇹.#UAV #USAF #RQ4 pic.twitter.com/HKGAG2APZX

— PlaneRadar (@ua4wiy_) 27 декабря 2019 г.

​Despite multiple calls by Russia, the Pentagon has declined to halt reconnaissance operations near the country's territory.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a strategic reconnaissance UAV developed by a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. The first drone of this type began combat missions in March 2006.