With tensions escalating between Ukraine and Russia, the US is employing various means to checkmate Moscow. Washington has decided to send spy planes on sorties over Ukraine for reconnaissance missions.
In a fresh development, an American spy plane nearing its retirement flew over Ukraine.
The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System was spotted in Eastern European skies on December 27, reported The Sun. The development assumes significance as satellite images have shown a massive Russian build-up along the border with Ukraine.
The number of Russian troops that have recently been deployed closer to Ukraine has been estimated to be between 60,000 and 90,000 with one US intelligence dossier claiming that figure might be as high as 175,000, Reuters reported on December 27, the same day the JSTAR’s flight was spotted.
Though this is being touted as the first-ever flight of the E-8C JSTAR over Ukraine, there is no official confirmation on the same. Last month, Russia had claimed that the E-8C was seen circling above the Black Sea, about 35kms from its border.
The JSTARS, based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, used the call sign REDEYE6 and flew multiple racetrack patterns over eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, where Kyiv’s forces are still fighting Russian-backed rebels in a long-running conflict.
If Russia were to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, it could do so largely through this disputed border region. The E-8C was joined on its Ukraine mission by a US Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, (call sign HOMER19) flying from Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete.
According to publicly accessible flight-tracking data, which isn’t always accurate, the Rivet Joint was operating nearly 40 miles from territory seized by Russian-backed forces at times.
However, this is not the first flight of the Rivet Joint since fresh tensions broke out between the neighbors. A few days back, an RC-135W Rivet Joint was seen flying over the Donbas region of Ukraine.
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E-8C JSTARS Spy Aircraft
The JSTARS was a joint project of the US Air Force (USAF) and the Army that provides an airborne, stand-off range, surveillance and target acquisition radar as well as a command and control center.
The primary duty of the E-8C is to provide theater ground and air commanders with ground surveillance to support attack operations and targeting that contributes to the delay, disruption and destruction of enemy forces.
The E-8C uses a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial airframe with radar, communications, operations, and control components required to carry out its missions. The canoe-shaped radome under the forward fuselage, which houses the 24-foot (7.3-meter) long side-looking phased array antenna, is the most visible external feature.
The E-8C’s radar and computer systems can collect and display extensive battlefield data on ground forces. These capabilities would be essential in tracking Russian soldiers near the Ukrainian border, gaining a better understanding of Moscow’s objectives and capabilities.
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