Two British Royal Air Force spy aircraft carried out surveillance flights along NATO’s eastern border.
The information was released by the website UK Defence Journal, which shared detailed flight tracking data from the RAF planes.
According to the report, the P-8A Poseidon from RAF Lossiemouth and the RC-135W Rivet Joint from RAF Waddington conducted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the eastern edge of the alliance.
The P-8A Poseidon departed from Scotland and flew north, crossing the North Sea before turning east over the Barents and Baltic regions and continuing south along the borders of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Meanwhile, the RC-135W Rivet Joint left Lincolnshire, England, and traveled over Central Europe before passing over Romania and the western Black Sea, near Crimea’s maritime border.
It is important to note that the RC-135W Rivet Joint sensors are configured for signal intelligence missions, monitoring Russian radar, communications, and air defense activities in Crimea and the western Russian military districts.
The two flights covered almost the entire north-south arc of NATO’s eastern flank, leaving only a section over Slovakia and Hungary, where airspace restrictions limit such patrols.
While the recent missions are routine, they highlight the UK’s commitment to monitoring NATO allies.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons / Reproduction. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
