Reconnaissance planes from Italy, the UK and the US were spotted over the Black Sea at the same time on Tuesday, 3 November, according to a specialist website that tracks military aircraft, drones and ships in real time. The British plane flew a route east of the Bulgarian coast.
The site says all three have not been seen together on Black Sea missions for a long time. It called their joint presence "particularly noteworthy".
Italy's air force sent up a Gulfstream E.550 CAEW, registration MM62293, call sign IAM1495. It took off from Pratica di Mare air base in Italy, monitored the Danube delta area and headed for the Romanian coast. The plane combines airborne early warning with electronic surveillance.
The UK's Royal Air Force sent up a Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, registration ZZ664, call sign RRR7203. It took off from RAF Waddington in the UK and specialises in signals intelligence.
The US Army sent a Bombardier CL-600 ARTEMIS II, registration N159L, call sign BRIO66. It took off from Constanta in Romania for another surveillance mission over the western Black Sea, where US Army reconnaissance planes have flown for a long time. The plane is built for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mostly electronic and communications intelligence.
The three planes took off from three different bases. The site says their capabilities complement each other.
The site says that having the three aircraft in one area shows how important Black Sea intelligence remains for Nato, especially because of the war in Ukraine and Russian military activity in the region. It adds that the flights also confirm how much Nato relies on surveillance along its eastern flank.
Two tanker planes, one French and one from Nato, were spotted on 22 October over the western Black Sea, east of the Bulgarian coast and not far from Burgas. Their routes matched air refuelling flights.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Northrop Grumman RQ-4D Phoenix drone, registration MM-AV-SA0014, call sign MAGMA10, was also spotted. Over Albania, it switched off its transponder and continued south, and its route after that is not known. The site says it cannot fully rule out that the drone also headed for the Black Sea, but no link between its flight and the flights of the three planes has been confirmed.