A NATO reconnaissance drone spotted over the Black Sea

A NATO reconnaissance drone has been spotted again over the neutral waters of the Black Sea for the first time since the beginning of September.

This was reported to TASS by a source in the European Union's air traffic control services.

"The flight of NATO's strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4D Phoenix, which took off from the Sigonella military base in Sicily, has been recorded over neutral waters in the southern part of the Black Sea; it is moving over the water area at an altitude of about 16 km," the agency's interlocutor said. This aircraft, according to him, belongs to NATO but is operated by the Italian military. One of the functions of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4D Phoenix is to collect images of large areas and transmit data in real time.

"The aircraft is moving along a clear trajectory, without entering the airspace of any of the coastal countries, with the exception of Bulgaria, through whose skies it proceeded to the flight over the water area," the source continued.

Overall, he noted, the drone's route repeats the one regularly flown over the water area by NATO's reconnaissance and target designation aircraft Bombardier Challenger 650 Artemis II.