As more russian troops and tanks mass
along ukraine's borders, more nato planes
are crowding the black sea in order to
keep tabs on the russians. NATO routinely flies surveillance
aircraft along russia's borders but
alliance air ops are intensifying over
the black sea, according to russia's
federal air transport agency.
The increased intensity of nato aircraft
flights near the borders of the russian
federation. creates the risk of dangerous incidents
in relation to civil aircraft, the agency
claimed. USAF RC-135V WS 4-engine heavies with sophisticated
electronic receivers for locating enemy
radars are frequent visitors to the
black sea.
Suhoy fighters from russia's southern
military district flew out to meet RC-135s in international airspace over
the black sea on december 3rd and again
five days later. On december 3rd and december 8, Su-27 and Su-30 fighters also tailed aus army
artemis. A prototype twin jet with an
underslung radar that can pinpoint
ground vehicles.
The army is expanding its fleet of
ground surveillance aircraft with new
artemises as well as recently retired
royal air force sentinels. The new and used planes could help the
army to compensate for any gaps in
coverage as the u.s air force steadily
shrinks its own fleet of aging E-8 ground
surveillance aircraft. the pentagon seems to be coordinating
the rRC-135 and artemis sorties. That makes sense the RC-135 is best for
spotting enemy forces via their
electronic emissions.
The artemis spots them on radar by
overlaying data from both planes, intelligence analysts can paint a
comprehensive picture of russian
deployments. Where are the tanks which air defenses
are protecting them the french air force
flew its own electronic intelligence
sortie over the black sea on december
8th, drawing the attention of russian Su-27s. The russians met the mirage 2000D and
an escorting rafale fighter while they
were refueling from a french air force a
330 tanker.
After the foreign warplanes made a
u-turn from russia's state border, the
russian fighter jets safely returned to
their home airfield, the russian air
force told state media. Look closely at the videos the russian
pilots shot. The mirage is clutching a
pod under its belly, that's an analyzer
super heterodyne tactic or ASTAC system.
A potted suite of electronic receivers
that's similar but smaller in scale to
the RC-135s own receiver suite. Another means of pinpointing enemy
sensors, there's an important distinction
between the RC-135 and the mirage with
its astac pod. The RC-135 is a big slow unarmed plane. The mirage by contrast is a supersonic
fighter that can carry air-to-air
missiles in addition to the ASTAC Pod.
While the RC-135 is probably a better
surveiller during peacetime, it's too
vulnerable to deploy near enemy air
defenses during wartime. The mirage however can fight its way
toward and back from enemy territory. The french and u.s governments both have
warned moscow that an attack on ukraine
could lead to serious consequences.
In particular potentially devastating
economic sanctions. If russia ignores the
warnings and invades the black sea could
become too dangerous for rc 135 sorties. But the mirage sorties just might
continue helping nato to track the
russian army as it rolls west.
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