The United States has resumed reconnaissance flights of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Black Sea 11 months after they were suspended following an incident with a Russian fighter jet. According to the French publication Le Monde, on April 17, 2025, an American strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4B Global Hawk, call sign Forte10, carried out a mission in international airspace off the coast of Romania. The UAV, which took off from the Sigonella air base in Sicily, was at an altitude of 15,5 km and conducted reconnaissance approximately 130 km from annexed Crimea.

US drone flights over the Black Sea were suspended in June 2024 after an incident in which an RQ-4B Global Hawk, according to Russian Telegram channels, disappeared from radar during a mission off the coast of Crimea. Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said in July 2024 that the US had temporarily revised flight routes due to “heightened risks,” but stressed that Washington would continue to operate in international airspace.

The resumption of RQ-4B Global Hawk flights coincided with an intensification of diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. On May 19, 2025, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a two-hour telephone conversation to discuss prospects for a ceasefire. According to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, no specific timeframe for a ceasefire was discussed, but Trump expressed a desire to speed up negotiations. That same day, Trump said the conflict in Ukraine "should have remained a European problem," but reaffirmed the US's commitment to dialogue. Some experts, including analyst Richard Aboulafia, believe the resumption of flights is due to the need to gather intelligence to monitor the situation amid the negotiations.

The reconnaissance missions of the RQ-4B Global Hawk, which can collect data on radio signals, communications and troop movements, play a key role in providing information to NATO and Ukraine. In 2024, flights of American and British aircraft over the Black Sea often preceded Ukrainian strikes on targets in Crimea, prompting accusations from Russia of passing intelligence to Kyiv. The Pentagon, however, denies directly passing data to carry out strikes on Russian territory.