New aerial operation in the Black Sea area

A fresh wave of allied surveillance activity unfolded this morning over the western Black Sea, marking the second major French operation in just three days. Once again, multiple French Air Force assets operated in coordination with a US Army ARTEMIS aircraft, confirming an increasingly persistent ISR presence in the area.

The core of the French activity was the Airbus A330 MRTT (callsign VANT98, registration F-UJCH), which orbited off the Bulgarian coast. The tanker’s presence clearly indicates that (French?) fighter jets were also active over the region, even though they did not appear on public ADS-B tracking. As usual, the MRTT likely provided refuelling support to these untracked aircraft during their patrol or escort missions.

France also deployed a Beech King Air 350ER ALSR (callsign CHAMA25, registration F-RACH). The ALSR is a light intelligence platform equipped for both signals and image intelligence, and this morning it flew several structured patterns over the western Black Sea, consistent with electronic surveillance and maritime observation tasks.

Further east, the US Army Bombardier CL-600 ARTEMIS (callsign BRIO66, registration N159L) conducted a long mission over the central Black Sea. ARTEMIS, one of the most sophisticated ISR platforms currently in service, once again operated near key Russian military areas between Crimea and the Krasnodar region, collecting electronic and signals intelligence.

Today’s mission highlights a new increase in Franco-American ISR coordination over the Black Sea. The repeated deployment of a French tanker and ISR assets within a short timeframe points to a sustained monitoring posture, as NATO allies maintain close watch over regional movements and evolving security dynamics.