Two RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft belonging to the British Royal Air Force carried out a total of 17 reconnaissance flights near the Kaliningrad Region in October. The data was published by The Daily Mail, which cited sources from the British defense sector. According to the report, the number of flights was four times higher than in the spring.
A British source described the intensity of the RAF’s activity over such a short period as “extraordinary.” The report did not specify the exact tasks of the individual missions, nor did it claim that the aircraft had entered Russia’s airspace.
The flights began from a base in Lincolnshire
The aircraft took off from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, in eastern England. The base is home to the 51st Squadron, which operates the British RC-135W Rivet Joints. The Royal Air Force has a total of three such aircraft.
The Rivet Joint is a specialized aircraft for electronic and signals intelligence. Using its sensors, it intercepts and analyzes signals from the electromagnetic spectrum, while the information collected can be processed and transmitted in real time. According to the RAF, this type of aircraft is used for strategic and tactical intelligence in support of British and allied operations.
The Kaliningrad Region is a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, separated from the rest of Russia and surrounded by countries that are members of the European Union and NATO. The area is among the zones where reconnaissance flights by NATO countries are regularly observed, but the specific reason for the increased British activity in October has not been publicly clarified.
Sources: news.mail.ru, klops.ru