US Strategic Reconnaissance Aircraft Vanishes from Radar over Barents Sea

A US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft vanished from flight tracking displays on Wednesday following approximately one hour of flight over the Barents Sea, north of Russia.

According to flight tracking data reviewed by the Russian news agency Novosti, the aircraft — a Boeing RC-135W — took off from the UK’s Mildenhall Air Base in southeast England at approximately 12:30 Moscow time. It headed north, flew parallel to the Norwegian coast, and entered airspace above the Barents Sea at 15:50 Moscow time, north of the Russian city of Murmansk.

Flight path and radar disappearance

After entering the Barents Sea airspace, the aircraft altered course westward. It fully disappeared from radar tracking systems at 16:40 Moscow time while operating approximately 400 kilometers north of the Russian border.

Observers suggest the abrupt loss of tracking was caused by the crew deliberately switching off the aircraft’s transponder and other location-transmitting equipment.

Uncertain mission endpoint

Flight tracking services have not identified the aircraft’s final destination. This absence of post-disappearance location data has raised questions regarding both the nature of the reconnaissance mission underway and the aircraft’s intended destination after its signal ceased.