Air navigation data obtained by "Sanad" Agency for Monitoring and News Verification in the Al-Jazeera network revealed that the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Sweden have carried out more than 225 flights using advanced military reconnaissance aircraft over eastern Europe since the beginning of this year, in order to monitor the Russian military buildup. Stationed near the Ukrainian border.

Although the Russian military build-up on the Ukrainian border began last November, the frequency of US and Western warnings in general of a Russian attack on Ukraine has suddenly and sharply escalated in the past days, amid many speculations about the date of a possible Russian invasion.

Western countries were not satisfied with verbal warnings, but followed their statements with decisions to evacuate their diplomats from Kiev, and demanded their nationals to leave Ukraine immediately, due to fears of an invasion at any moment. They also intensified sending their military aid to Ukraine, coinciding with their assertion that Russian forces had become in advanced and offensive positions. .

The US administration still expects the possibility of a Russian attack on Ukraine, at a time when there was talk about the return of some Russian forces from the Ukrainian border, which contradicts the statements of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that there are no indications that Moscow is withdrawing. its forces.

Western warnings were met with repeated Russian denials, but this denial did not resolve or refute the allegations about the invasion, so that the Ukrainian side also expressed surprise at those statements, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded to provide him with any information about the date of the Russian invasion, indicating that his country did not Own information held by NATO countries.

Russian military bases in blue, in addition to western military bases from which reconnaissance planes fly in yellow (the island)

What are the reasons that prompted the West to do so?

There are many scenarios that experts and analysts are talking about, including that Washington may try to lure Moscow into the war without the latter's desire, and that its military buildup is likely to be only a threat, and therefore its image will be shaken globally when it decides not to attack.

But the other scenario is the most dangerous, as it is assumed that the West has accurate information about Russian military movements, and the plans of Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

How can this information be obtained in light of the Russian side's strict secrecy about its intentions, and its imposition of an iron curtain on what is happening inside the Kremlin's corridors, and on what is going on in Putin's mind as well?

It is likely that the information in the possession of the West was collected over the past days and weeks through several methods, including the use of advanced reconnaissance aircraft owned by NATO countries, in addition to other non-alliance countries such as Sweden, which have high capabilities for monitoring and gathering information.

The frequency of work of NATO and Swedish reconnaissance aircraft in Eastern Europe increased, as they exceeded 225 reconnaissance flights since the beginning of the year until mid-February. The reconnaissance flights aim to collect accurate military information.

The Verification and Monitoring Unit of the Al Jazeera Network (Sanad) analyzed all those flights, and was able to access accurate data on the types of reconnaissance aircraft used, in addition to their detailed capabilities and the area that they can monitor, as well as the paths followed by each flight and the nature of the information they can collect.

The routes and areas surveyed by a number of reconnaissance planes on several fronts during January until mid-February.

(Al Jazeera)

6 types of reconnaissance aircraft

By analyzing the data conducted by Sanad, it can be said that Western countries used 20 types of reconnaissance aircraft on 225 flights in 45 days since the beginning of the year until mid-February, and this report will address the most prominent 6 types of these aircraft. In terms of capabilities, scope of work, and other elements, they are the most effective types of reconnaissance operations.

The reconnaissance planes have a wide range of information gathering, and according to the aircraft’s itinerary, the overall analysis of the area they cut indicates that NATO and its allied countries were able to completely cover the western military areas in which the Russian forces are stationed, exceeding the circumference of the circle that can be surveyed about 10 thousand km, including Belarus and Ukraine in full.

The observed reconnaissance aircraft belonged to military signal-intercepting reconnaissance aircraft (SIGINT), aircraft capable of intercepting encrypted signals sent by security and intelligence institutions.

Intelligence agencies in countries of the world use platforms and rules to intercept and analyze signals, and these platforms collect intelligence information by intercepting signals between people, or between electronic means of communication.

The information is often encrypted due to its sensitivity and importance, and therefore each country tries to intercept as many signals as it can, to decode them and analyze the encoded information. However, the signals intercepted by intelligence platforms constitute very valuable information, even if they cannot be decoded in principle.

Here are the most prominent aircraft that belong to this category:

1- RC-12X aircraft

It is the most prominent aircraft that has carried out reconnaissance operations since the beginning of the year, and belongs to the American forces, which owns two aircraft of the same model, which are "YANK01" and "YANK02", and its flights have focused in northeastern Europe, especially the territory of Belarus, an ally of Russia. .

Operations of these aircraft are managed through Siauliai Airport in Lithuania.

The aircraft can fly for 5 consecutive hours at an altitude of 11,000 meters, and is capable of covering an area of ​​3,200 km.

The US forces have used the aircraft on 47 reconnaissance flights since the beginning of the year.

2- RC-135 aircraft

A reconnaissance plane specialized in intercepting ground signals between people or electronic means of communication, and used in espionage and investigation operations, and transmitting information from the theater of operations directly and live.

The aircraft is used by the US forces and the British Royal Air Force, and has carried out 27 reconnaissance flights.


It can intercept signals with a wide area extending along the horizon visible in front of it.

3- Artemis planes

One of the latest US Air Force spy planes, announced in the year 2020, and it is the first US Army plane to operate with a jet engine and not a propeller engine.

The aircraft is equipped with a high-precision detection and sensing system that works through a radar capable of monitoring ground movements, and high-intelligence electronic receivers, which can detect the movements of tanks or ships and locate enemy radar devices.

The plane is also flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, which allows it to perform a comprehensive survey of the size of the horizon in front of it, which the US military calls "deep sensing".


The aircraft has made 18 reconnaissance flights since the beginning of the year.

4- S-102B aircraft

Reconnaissance aircraft of the 73rd Battalion of the Swedish Air Force, intercepting signals from electronic devices.

The plane takes off from the headquarters of the air base in Malmö, southern Sweden, and makes semi-routine reconnaissance flights around the Russian region of Kaliningrad to gather military information about the region.

The aircraft previously participated in missions in Syria to support operations against ISIS.

It can intercept signals with a wide area extending along the horizon visible in front of it.

The plane has made 25 flights since the beginning of the year until now.

5- S100D aircraft

Aircraft equipped with the early warning system, a radar system used to detect enemy aircraft and ships at long distances, and used during air engagements to direct combat aircraft.


The plane follows the Swedish Air Force, and it can monitor the movements of enemy ships and fighters from a distance of more than 200 miles (321 kilometers).

The plane does not carry a specialized crew on board that analyzes the information, but it sends the information to a specialized team on the ground.

The plane has made 12 flights since the beginning of the year.

6- P-8A aircraft

The aircraft belongs to the family of naval patrol aircraft that conduct long-range reconnaissance operations over water.

The plane belongs to the US Navy, works in anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, and is armed with torpedoes and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

The plane can detect movements in a wide area the size of the horizon available in front of it.

The aircraft has made 25 reconnaissance flights since the beginning of the year.