This morning we have tracked two different missions in the Black Sea area: the first one carried out by a NATO Northrop Grumman RQ-4D (reg. MM-AV-SA-001) departed from Sigonella AB. the drone switched off its transponder over the Bulgarian coast and is operating over the Black Sea
The second mission is carried out by USArmy Bombardier 600 ARTEMIS (reg. N488CR – callsign BRIO68).
The aircraft has departed from Costanta at 07:26 CET and it’s still at work monitoring the Odessa area, the sea off the coast, Transinistria and south-west Ukraine.
According to the Army, ARTEMIS (short for Airborne Reconnaissance and Targeting Multi-Mission Intelligence System) is the service’s first ever Manned Aerial ISR jet.
The ARTEMIS program, a joint investment between the Army and industry partners, started in May 2019 and recently completed aircraft and sensor system engineering, airworthiness qualification, information assurance accreditation, integration and testing requirements.