This morning we are tracking two different missions operated by Global Hawk drones.
The USAF Northrop Grumman RQ-4B (reg. 09-2039 – callsign FORTE10) took off yesterday morning from Sigonella and carried out a first part of the mission over the Black Sea and a second part over the border between Romania and Moldova (an area that in the past was monitored by other assets).
While FORTE finished its mission another drone, this time a NATO Northrop Grumman RQ-4D (reg. MM.AVSA0015 – callsign MAGMA) left Sigonella and is heading towards the Ukrainian theatre.
Unlike the USAF drone, however, once in the area of operations, this drone will turn off its ADS-B transponder and we will not be able to track its flight.
⚠️ Mission aborted for the #NATO 'Phoenix' which is now returning to Sigonella.
— Itamilradar (@ItaMilRadar) March 22, 2022
Once over the Black Sea the drone has turned back squawking "7600" (code used to communicate to air traffic control that the plane has lost communications with the tower).#UkraineRussianWar pic.twitter.com/4RyZZHOsbc