An unusual mission today for a NATO Northrop Grumman RQ-4D Phoenix drone (reg. MM-AV-SA0017 – c/s MAGMA10), which took off this morning from NAS Sigonella at 09:29 CEST heading toward the Black Sea.
It had been several months since we last tracked a NATO Phoenix, so its reappearance came as a surprise (though it’s worth noting that a lack of tracking doesn’t necessarily mean the drones haven’t been flying).
Shortly after entering Greek airspace (FIR), the drone began a series of orbits—possibly indicating a technical issue. Nonetheless, it continued its mission and reached the Black Sea, where it was expected to operate. However, soon after its arrival, the drone squawked 7600, indicating a radio communication failure, and aborted the mission, returning to Sicily.
As it crossed back over the Ionian Sea, the issue appeared to be resolved. The drone—callsign MAGMA—then headed south and began a new patrol off the Libyan coast, a mission that was still ongoing at 19:00 CEST.
Interestingly, Libya was also the focus of a lengthy mission today by a US Navy Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton.
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