Huge US drone flies from England to monitor Russian border

A U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk, recently deployed to RAF Fairford in England from Sigonella Naval Air Station on the Italian island of Sicily, has completed a marathon reconnaissance mission under the callsign FORTE16.

This mission saw the drone cover an extensive flight path, closely monitoring the borders of NATO member states close to Russia.

Taking off from RAF Fairford, the Global Hawk headed east over the Baltic Sea, before flying along the borders of Finland, the Baltic States, and down to the sensitive region between Poland and Ukraine.

It then made its way south, eventually returning to its base at Sigonella, Italy.

#USAF RQ-4B global hawk complete flight from yesterday seen on the flight radar, departure from RAF fairford, having made its way east a long the finnish / russia border, before circling over estonia close to russia / gulf of finland, RTB at sigonella NB. #FORTE16 #AE5421 pic.twitter.com/pzRllGfv95

— wip. (@alternativewip) August 26, 2024

The mission was part of the U.S. Air Force’s ongoing efforts to diversify its operating locations and enhance its integration with NATO Allies.

In a statement, the U.S Air Force said

“A U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk arrived at Royal Air Force Fairford, England, for a temporary deployment Thursday, as part of U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa’s efforts to diversify operating locations and enhance integration with NATO Allies. This marks the first U.S. RQ-4 deployment to England. The deployed U.S. RQ-4 will conduct operations through international and Allied airspace in accordance with international norms and standards. 

The deployment also signifies the next step in USAFE-AFAFRICA’s implementation of the U.S. Air Force’s agile combat employment concept, under which aircraft may be dispersed from typical operating locations to alternate airfields to enhance survivability. The 501st Combat Support Wing at RAF Fairford has routinely supported similar deployments, including when U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft operated from RAF Fairford for Bomber Task Force 24-3 in June. The support and execution of these missions demonstrate U.S. commitment to NATO Allies and partners and set conditions for potential future operations in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.”

Operating under the callsign FORTE16, the drone provided near-real-time intelligence, significantly contributing to NATO’s situational awareness and security efforts in the region. This mission also exemplified the U.S. Air Force’s agile combat employment concept, aimed at enhancing the survivability of its assets by dispersing them across various locations.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft with an integrated sensor suite that provides global all-weather, day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.

According to the U.S. Air Force:

“Global Hawk’s mission is to provide a broad spectrum of ISR collection capability to support joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations. The Global Hawk provides persistent near-real-time coverage using imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT) and moving target indicator (MTI) sensors.

Global Hawk is currently fielded in three distinct blocks. Seven Block 10 aircraft were procured, but were retired from the Air Force inventory in 2011. Block 20s were initially fielded with IMINT-only capabilities, but three Block 20s have been converted to an EQ-4 communication relay configuration, carrying the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) payload.

Block 30 is a multi-intelligence platform that simultaneously carries electro-optical, infrared, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and high and low band SIGINT sensors. Block 30 Initial Operating Capability (IOC) was declared in August 2011. Eighteen Block 30s are currently fielded, supporting every geographic combatant command as well as combat missions in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom/ New Dawn. Block 30s also supported Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya and humanitarian relief efforts during Operation Tomodachi in Japan.

The system offers a wide variety of employment options. The long range and 30+ hour endurance allow tremendous flexibility in meeting mission requirements. In 2014, an RQ-4 Block 40 flew a 34.3 hour flight, setting the endurance record for longest unrefueled flight by a U.S. Air Force aircraft.”