RAF & USAF Planes Bordering Russia

Hi

I have recently got into the world of tracking and i am thoroughly enjoying it however I have had an interest in military aviation for years before.

With the activity in Ukraine and the world tension i can understand the need for surveillance aircraft to monitor the situation however was this common practice before the war in Ukraine? I hadn't been monitoring aircraft online before the war so unsure if this is common place or not.

Rivet Joints from both the RAF and USAF operating in the vicinity today and over the past couple of days USAF Joint stars and Nightwatch also been in the area.

Thanks in advance

 

I'm not sure about "peacetime" conditions, but before the war in Ukraine they were patrolling the borders and watching the build up. The major change was that once the war started, the flights pulled back from overlying Ukraine to NATO's eastern borders and the Black Sea.

If you keep an eye out, besides the Rivet Joints and JSTARS, you'll see RQ-4 Global Hawks (out of Sigonella, mostly overlying the Black Sea, usually with a "FORTE" callsign), RC-12 Guardrails over Lithuania (YANK01, YANK02, YANK03 usually), NATO E-3s out of Turkey and Germany, and a couple of Swedish ones over the Baltic.

The Nightwatch is an unusual sighting. Usually those stay in the US unless POTUS or SecDef is in the area.

Happy hunting!

 

Thank you for the reply JPM and your help

I hadn't seen the Global hawks! But had noticed the Guardrails operating out of Lithuania.

I had also noticed quite a few small transport jets ( Gulfstream's and the like) operated by the USAF coming into Germany which happened around the same time as the nightwatch so maybe as you say the Secutary of defence was in the area.

Thanks again for your help