U.S. RQ-4B-30 Global Hawk UAV conducts surveillance flight over Crimea and JFO area (PHOTO)

The U.S. Air Force reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) RQ-4B-30 Global Hawk flew over the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as along the Joint Forces Operation area in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. This was reported by the PlaneRadar monitoring resource.

The drone performed the tasks and returned to the NATO’s Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy.

INFO: RQ-4 Global Hawk – is American unmanned (UAV) surveillance aircraft. It can patrol for 30 hours at an altitude of 18,000 meters. It was developed by the American company Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. The first Global Hawk unit was transferred to the US Navy in 2004 and began to perform combat missions in March 2006. In January 2012, the US Air Force decided to discontinue the purchase of RQ-4 Global Hawk of Block 30 modification. The previously adopted vehicles were scheduled to be transferred to the reserve. The reason for this decision was their costly maintenance, far exceeding the cost of operating the Lockheed U-2. At the same time, in 2013 fiscal year, the US Department of Defense plans to allocate USD 1.2 billion for the purchase of 6 RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40.

As The Journalist reported, US Air Force ordered development of guided aerial bombs with a controlled explosion power.