US Drone Conducted Reconnaissance Near Russia's Crimea Airspace

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.

​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.