New surveillance mission in the Eastern Mediterranean conducted by a US Navy Northrop Grumman MQ-4C (registration 169659 – callsign TRITON19) launched from NAS Sigonella.
This morning, the drone is operating along the entire eastern coast, from Syria, where the port of Tartus used by the Russian Navy is located, to Lebanon, and down to the Gaza Strip.
Simultaneously, a USAF Northrop Grumman RQ-4B (registration 10-2045 – callsign FORTE14), also taking off from NAS Sigonella, is flying over the Black Sea towards the east, where it will begin a surveillance mission off Sochi.
From what we have seen in recent weeks, it appears that there is a division of operational areas for US drones: USAF drones continue to operate in the Black Sea area while those of the US Navy have the Mediterranean as their area of competence.
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