On August 21st, a USAF Northrop Grumman RQ-4B (reg. 11-2016 – c/s FORTE12) departed from NAS Sigonella to carry out a mission over the Baltic region, a routine it has been following for several weeks. However, after completing its mission, the aircraft did not return to Sicily but instead headed to the United Kingdom, landing at RAF Fairford.
Today, the same drone (callsign FORTE16) is again conducting a mission in the same area.
During these two missions, FORTE orbited extensively west of St. Petersburg (home to Russia’s Baltic Fleet), and then headed north over Finland, orbiting west of Severomorsk, the headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet.
This is the first time we’ve tracked FORTE operating from the UK and conducting a mission of this type. In the coming days, we will see whether this is an exception or the beginning of a new routine. It is certainly a sign that US monitoring of Russian activities is becoming increasingly stringent.