This morning, we recorded a lot of military traffic in the Black Sea. While Air Force One, with President Biden on board, was transiting the Black Sea, there were at least three NATO assets patrolling the area:
- A U.S. Navy Lockheed EP-3E (reg. 156517), which took off from Souda Bay Air Base, was conducting a routine mission off the coast of Romania.
- A Turkish Air Force Boeing E-7T (reg. 13-004 – c/s TURAF42), which took off from Konya Air Base, was also orbiting over eastern Romania, conducting an air surveillance mission.
- A NATO Boeing E-3A (reg. LX- N90456), which also took off from Konya Air Base, was conducting a similar mission to the Turkish AWACS, but over the central Black Sea.
We do not know if the missions of the two AWACS were linked to the passage of Biden’s plane, but shortly after AF1 transited, the NATO AWACS returned to base, while the Turkish one was no longer traceable.