US Global Hawk drone carried out reconnaissance mission at the demarcation line in the Donbas
A RQ-4A Global Hawk Strategic U.S. Air Force drone made an almost 10-hour reconnaissance flight along the line dividing the sides in the Donbas on Friday, as was reported by Interfax-Ukraine citing a source in western information portals that monitor the movement of military aircraft.
According to them, the American long-range drone, before leaving Ukraine in the west to its border with Romania, had shuttled north to south along the demarcation line for hours without crossing it.
During its flight over the Donbas, the American drone, capable of staying aloft for up to 30 hours at an altitude of 15,000 – 18,000 meters, also flew up to the Voronezh and Rostov regions of Russia bordering the Luhansk region at a distance of no less than 100 km.
Taking into account the drone’s reconnaissance capabilities, the RQ-4A Global Hawk UAV can monitor the entire territory controlled by the "DPR" and the "LPR," as well as the bordering regions of Russia.
The long-haul American UAV departed from the Sigonella air base in Sicily on Friday morning. According to reports, it entered Ukrainian airspace from Romania, to the north of Moldova, and continued its flight east over the Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions to the Donetsk region.
The drone’s transponder was on.
This drone was previously recorded approaching the demarcation line in the Donbas on October 15, November 14 and December 2.
According to data from public sources, this heavy U.S. Air Force drone was used earlier this year to detect and destroy militant targets in Libya.