Unusual Triton

A long mission of a US Navy Northrop Grumman MQ-9C “Triton” (reg. 169660) drone, which took off from NAS Sigonella, is now coming to an end. While such missions are not uncommon, this one stands out because, unlike the usual flights that loiter off the coasts of the Middle East—typically orbiting over areas off Syria, Lebanon, and Israel—it focused instead on the eastern Mediterranean, south of Cyprus.

Notably, before returning to Sicily, the drone conducted approximately one hour of orbits south of Crete. It is worth recalling that the Russian Navy tug Churov is currently operating in the central Mediterranean, most likely accompanied by the submarine Novorossiysk.