A US Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft carried out a surveillance mission over the western part of the Black Sea, flying over international waters within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. The aircraft had a registration number of 170269, and its route included several long circular flights east of the Bulgarian coast.
The flight was aimed at monitoring the maritime situation in an area where commercial shipping is at risk due to Russian drone attacks. According to Itamilradar's analysis, the mission profile shows that the main task was maritime surveillance, not electronic reconnaissance. The purpose of such operations is to track the movement of vessels and detect potential threats to shipping.
Surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft
The Boeing P-8A Poseidon is designed primarily to detect and combat submarines, but it also has equipment for surface surveillance and patrol. Therefore, the aircraft can perform both maritime reconnaissance tasks and maritime area and traffic control missions.
The flight is another example of the increased presence of American and NATO aircraft over the western part of the Black Sea. In recent days, other missions by American P-8A Poseidon, as well as Italian CAEW aircraft, have been recorded.
The surveillance is related to the growing risks to maritime transport, especially on the routes that connect Ukrainian ports with the rest of the Black Sea transport network. It is not clear from publicly available information how long the specific mission and subsequent flights in the area will last.
Sources: novini.bg, nova.bg, 24plovdiv.bg