US strategic drone conducts reconnaissance flight over Donbas
On Friday, February 16, a RQ-4 Global Hawk strategic drone from the US Air Force conducted a reconnaissance flight along the line of demarcation in the Donbas, Interfax-Ukraine reported with reference to web sites tracking the air traffic of military aircraft.
The US long-distance drone with tail number 10-2043, which took off from Sigonella airbase in Sicily, flew from north to south along the line of demarcation separating Ukraine from self-proclaimed LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic), without crossing it.
The flight was carried out at an altitude of about 16 thousand meters and with a speed of 600 km per hour. At about 8pm the drone left the airspace above the Donbas.
During the reconnaissance, the aircraft flew several times at a distance of approximately 40 to 60 km to the Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions of Russia bordering the Luhansk region.
Recently the US Air Force has increased the number of such reconnaissance flights. Since the beginning of this year, at least twelve reconnaissance operations have been recorded near the line of demarcation in the Donbas.
Earlier, it was reported that on February 11, an American strategic drone conducted reconnaissance flight along the line of demarcation in the Donbas, near the coast of the Crimea and the Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation.